Myth
by Heights93
Summary: Stevie moves back to her boring home town of Old Passage only to discover that it's not as boring as she remembers. She quickly discovers myths aren't just stories but identities as well.
1. Home at Last

As I drove to our new home in Maine, I looked up at the clouds. They seemed to be clearing and specks of the sun soon began to show. The houses here looked ancient like they still belonged in the seventies with their faded siding and missing shingles. The cement sidewalks were cracked and weeds seeped through.

"One month," my sister Anna said from the passenger seat. "We had one month of school left and they decided to pack up and leave."

"It's not so bad," I said steering into a neighborhood.

"That's because you lived here as a kid, I don't remember," she grumbled.

I glanced over at her. Anna was fifteen and considerably cool for someone her age I guess. She had brown hair like me while I kept my hair straight she liked curling her hair and then pulling on it to make it wavy. It looked pretty. She had hazel eyes where as mine were brown. It was incredible how much she looked like me besides those two features.

We weaved through the streets searching for my dad's rusty green pick up. We found it parked on a dirty white two story home. The porch was missing a few floor board but other than that it seemed in good shape. Mom and Dad were bringing in furniture from the rental truck. I parked behind my dad's truck still piled in boxes from the move.

Anna and I walked inside the house and floor boards groaned in agony. The house was still empty. The were stairs to my left which I expected would lead to bedrooms. The first door to my right was the dinning room. When I walked further along I could spot the kitchen and the living room. At the very end of the house was another stair case that lead to the basement.

"I wonder how long it's been since anyone's lived in here," Anna said beside me surveying the place as well.

"Girls," Mom said. "Pick a room and start unpacking."

We hurried down the hall and raced up the stairs. There were four doors, three bedrooms and one bathroom. Anna dashed forward and looked around trying to find the best room in the house. She stopped on the very last door.

"Dibs," she said with a smirk. I walked over to check it out. It was big and had a large closet. There was a large window facing the back yard and far off in the distance you could see an abandoned house on a lonely road.

"Fine," I said. I walked out of her room and checked out the room next door to hers. It was about the same with the large closet and all but across the closet was a window staring right into the next house.

"Steves, will you help me move in my stuff?" Anna asked appearing at the door way. "Then I'll help you with yours."

I nodded. We went down the stairs and down to the rental. Mom and dad were moving in furniture to the living room, we had to plaster ourselves to the wall to avoid getting hit in the face with what ever they were bringing.

"I wonder what the neighbors are like," Anna said as she waited outside the rental. I pulled out her bed frame.

"I'm sure they'll come out and introduce themselves," I told her. She helped me pull it onto the ground and we maneuvered it up to her room.

"What about some cute neighbor boys?"

"Anna, my foot!"

Her grip had started to slide and my foot almost got chopped off. We continued to bring in her furniture which wasn't much just a bed, and two dresser and a full length mirror. Then we moved my things into my room: my bed, desk, dresser and two bean bag chairs. Then we were off on our own to decorate our rooms.

I put together the underlying bed pieces and with the help of my mom. I shoved it against a wall so my desk could be in front. I put my dresser beside the closet for easier access. I threw my bean bags in a corner. By the time I was finished it had been three o'clock. I flew down the stairs to my car to bring up more things.

As I walked to my car, I glanced at the houses surrounding my own. Across the street, all the curtains were closed and one car was parked out front. I saw a girl around my sister's age watching me. I smiled as friendly as I could to only have her blush and hide behind the curtain.

I opened the trunk and pulled out a box full of my possessions. I went up the stairs and Anna came trotting down. I set the box on my bed and propped it open. Inside were my curtains, picture frames and things I had on my desk back home.

I walked over to my window. As I got closer I could see a guy around my age the next window over. He was staring down at my sister in the drive way. He wore an unbuttoned shirt and jeans. His arms were crossed as if truly examining her with his blue eyes. After a moment, he looked up and saw me looking at him. He untucked his arm and flicked me off.

"That bastard!" I gasped. He closed his blinds and I could no longer see. I could feel anger fly through my veins. I set up my curtains and continued to set up my room. Who the hell did he think he was?

"Stevie, mom said we should go into town and bring in dinner," Anna said skipping into my room. I set my lap top on my desk and looked up.

"Right," I said grabbing my keys off my bed. We headed down stairs and I could see my parents had made some real progress. Outside, one of the neighbors had come out to introduce themselves. It was a couple and the blushing girl from across the street.

"These are our daughters Stevie and Anna," Mom introduced as we approached. "Girls, meet Sam Grady, she's fifteen."

"Hi," Anna said flashing her one of her best smiles. Sam didn't even flinch. She blinked and blushed. Anna looked up at me with an eye brow raised, I just shrugged unsure. I looked over to the neighbor girl.

"Nice to meet you," I said kindly. "See you around."

Anna and I walked past them too my car where only a few boxes remained. I pulled away from the house. As I did, I caught a glimpse of the Peeping Tom in his room again watching us drive off. I sent his a death stare and he smiled.

* * *

A/N: Hello wonderful world of fanfiction. Thanks oh so much for reading! I update a chapter per day (except around major holidays). Bare with me if you see any mistakes. I hope you decide to continue reading my story. Feel free to comment what/when ever you like.

~Alex


	2. Natives

I don't remember this place being so small. The whole town itself was about six miles in diameter with two department stores, two restaurants, one clinic and drug store, four fast food places, four gas stations, a Wal-Mart and other owner based stores. Not to mention one elementary, school and high school. It was the kind of town where there was nothing to see and you had to know how to entertain yourself.

Everyone knew everyone in this town so our arrival was in a way a big deal. Some even knew who we were because they never left this place. It amazed me to see how people could just stay here and never leave. They liked it here because of the fact that it was peaceful and nothing major ever happened. Mom said it was because it was a safe place to raise a family. If it's such a great place then why did we leave? On the bright side people were friendly and welcomed me back into town.

Mom and Dad had taken the liberty to enroll us here. Anna would finish off her freshmen year at Old Passage High School, home of the pouncing pumas. I on the other hand was taking a summer class in the community college in the next town over. By the end of the weekend, my room looked like my room and the house looked like my house. So far, so good, I guess.

"Stevie!" mom called from down stairs. "You're taking Anna and the neighbor girl to school this morning. Come down stairs for breakfast. Anna!"

I rolled on to my back. I was little confused as to where I was. Then I remembered we were in the new house. I felt so comfortable that I didn't want to move. I stretched and sat up throwing my blanket aside and jumped out of bed to walk over to my closet. There weren't any doors yet because I requested a different pair of closet doors. Dad said we would get them at the end of the week. I pulled out a green t-shirt, and brown shorts and threw them on my bed.

I took off my night shirt and threw it into my closet. When I turned around to pick up my shirt I saw the neighbor guy, shirtless, at his window glancing over here. I yelped and put on my shirt. I walked over to my window as I saw him smirk.

We made eye contact. I did what he did last night and raised my middle finger and pointed to him. He pointed to himself asking if I meant him. I nodded. He waved me over. I chuckled shaking my head and walked away.

I finished getting dressed and went down the hall to the bathroom to brushed my teeth and hair into a high pony tail. I rushed out before tornado Anna had a chance to knock me off my feet. I flew down stairs to see there were still a few boxes laying around for my mom to unpack. She had made us waffles this morning and my mouth soon began to water at the scent. My mom will out cook anyone in a good one hundred mile radius. It's a talent of hers that Anna or I have yet to master.

"So, I'm only allowed to take one summer class?" I asked as I sat on the stool. "Why again?"

"That's all we can afford right now with the move and all," she told me. "You'll start fresh in the fall."

I placed two waffles on my plate and pulled the syrup toward me. Anna came down still in pajamas.

"Hello!" I said. "I've got to class in half an hour and you aren't ready? I have to drop you off and the neighbor girl. I don't have all day."

"The neighbor girl?" Anna asked wrinkling her nose. "She's terribly shy. Is she new here too or something?"

"Anna!" Mom snapped. "She's only shy because you two are strangers. She's in your grade, so behave, understand?"

"Great," Anna grumbled. She backed away into the hall and I heard her stomp up the stairs. I ate quietly thinking about the creep from the window next door. Once I found out who he was, he would get a piece of my mind. Anna returned in a few minutes just as the door bell rang.

I grabbed my bag from my room and raced down the stairs once more. The neighbor girl was on the porch. She looked exceptionally ordinary but I had to admit she was insanely pretty for a girl her age. Her eyes were the perfect shade of brown, her hair was perfectly in place and her perfect pink lips formed a faint smile.

"Hey, my sister will be down in a sec," I said stepping out into the cool summer day. "Anna, hurry the hell up!"

She gave a nod and we walked over to my car. Just as we got in, Anna rustled out of the door. She bounced on over to us and got in the car. Sam gave me directions to the high school but the girl spoke so soft I had to say 'what' about six times before I could actually hear her. Anna just shrugged in my direction. We pulled up to a brick building where kids were huddled around the front door.

Anna looked at me with big eyes that pleaded for me not to leave her. I gave her my best apologetic look. Both girls climbed out of my car and walked toward the building. I rode off out of town and took the ten minute drive to the neighboring town Greenwood where the community college was. It was slightly larger then the high school but not much a difference if you ask me.

I rushed into the silent building to find my Latin class. Yep, Latin. Who would ever think Latin was being taught now a days. But it was in this school, thrilling. As I walked further into the college, I saw more student hanging around and talking. I turned the corner and the folder in my arm went flying.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," I said bending down to gather my things.

"Don't sweat it," came a guy's voice in front of me. He had bent down to help me pick up my notebook. He handed it to me and I smiled. He had short dark brown hair and and brown eyes. He was tall and lean but he looked slightly geeky with a rocker edge.

"Latin, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I didn't sign up for it. I'm new to this place."

"Obviously because I happen to know you're going the wrong way," he said with a chuckle. "New, huh? You wouldn't happen to be Stevie Kendall?"

"Yeah, that's me," I said as we walked the opposite way.

"I'm Gavin," he said. "We were in first grade together before you moved."

"Sorry, I don't remember."

"I was the kid who cried during the Thanksgiving play in front of everyone."

I laughed at the memory since. He and I were Native Americans during the reenactment. He was my 'husband' in the play and I was unsure with what to do.

"That's right," I said. I was happy to run into a familiar face on my first day of school. "Teacher couldn't get you to stop crying."

He laughed. "I have to say, I never got over my stage fright."

We went down a few hallways and went to a pair of double door where he told me my class room was. I guessed it to be a lecture hall.

"Well, it's cool that you're back in town," Gavin said as we came to stop beside the doors. "Maybe we can hang later or something to catch up after all these years."

"Yeah, maybe find other fellow Indians," I joked.

He grinned and opened the door for me. I walked on inside to see a lecture room full of students and the professor. I took a seat and the class got started. The class was two hours long with a ten minute break. I never bothered to take Spanish in high school so when I sat down and the teacher yammered off in Latin I knew I was screwed.


	3. Forces

After class, I went to go find the book store to buy the book for class. The book store was crammed in a corner with old tattered books near the back doors. Not the best location since it took me fifteen minutes to find it. I bought my Latin textbook and went to look for the caf in this place. It wasn't hard to find because it was at the heart of school. To my surprise, this place was the only modern looking room in the whole school.

Counter tops gleamed, a row of computers at the disposal to students, a little den area to hang out and a bar with a old fashioned music box. And this was the only place that was air conditioned. It felt really good since the rest of the building was incredibly hot.

"Stevie!" came voice. I spotted Gavin at a table with a pretty girl. I walked over and took a seat. The girl smiled at me and I returned it.

"Steves, this is my girlfriend Thalia," Gavin introduced. Thalia had curly light brown hair and big blue eyes that I bet could turn piercing or soft at any given second. She had fair skin and her features were inviting like I knew at this moment we would become friends. "She's still in high school but she takes college classes."

"You're the new girl in Old Passage, welcome," she said. "We're from there too."

"Cool," I said. "I should get going home, I need to go job hunting for the summer."

"I'll walk out with you," Thalia said getting up. "I need to head back anyway." She and Gavin kissed. We waved and walked away. I went to buy a bottle of water. As we waited in line, Thalia told me of some job openings in Old Passage. The person behind the counter wasn't there.

"Hmm," Thalia said thoughtfully. "He's probably cleaning tables." She turned around to scan the caf area. I pulled out my wallet. "Oh, there he is! Elliott, we need some help, please."

"Hey Thalia," came a guy's voice. I heard him from behind and then in a second he came behind the counter. "When are you gonna leave Creed over there huh?"

"Shut up," Thalia said rolling her eyes. I looked up to meet the same blue eyes from this morning. He was fully clothed to say the most.

"Well," he said with a wicked smile. "If it isn't my little neighbor. Stalking me already?"

"Don't flatter yourself," I said coldly. I handed him two dollars.

"Elliott, stop being a dick," Thalia said as he handed me change. She and I turned and we headed out of the caf.

"So, that's his name," I said.

"Don't worry he's harmless," she said as we walked out of the building. The day was much warmer now and the sun was shining up above: an ideal day. We got to the parking lot. "If I hear about any job openings, I'll let you know."

"Thanks," I said. We smiled and separated to our cars. I got in my car and threw my stuff in the back seat. I drove home to an empty house. I walked over to the kitchen where you could see the abandoned house down that road where no other houses stood. I wondered what was over there. As long as I remember, that house was always alone.

I heard the front door open and my mom came in with groceries. She set them on the counter.

"Stevie, you're back already," she said. "How was class?"

"I ran into an old friend from elementary school," I said. "And his girlfriend. They seem nice."

"Good, I'm glad you're adjusting."

"Mom, that house was always abandoned, right?"

I pointed out the glass door leading to the back yard. Our back yard had no fencing so you could see the house pretty clearly. Mom looked to where I was pointing. She thought for a second before responding.

"Yeah, even before your father and I grew up," she told me. "Don't you remember I told you all those scary stories about the house when you were little."

I watched her put groceries away. I made myself a sandwich and got around to doing my homework before Anna got home. I knew she would have lots of things to say about her first official day at Old Passage.

She bust in happily already talking to me. She appeared in the living room.

"So, that Sam girl, all the boys like her, all of them!" Anna was saying. "And get this, she doesn't want any of them. Can you believe it! And she's friends with the meanest girl in school. I don't want to cross her in a dark alley."

"So, you had a good day?" I asked.

Anna shrugged. "It wasn't bad I guess. A lot of teachers confused me for you. I guess they still remember you from all those years ago. How was community college?"

I did the same and shrugged. "I ran into an old class mate and he introduced me to some people. Then I met-" I paused. Did I really want to tell my sister about the jerk who liked spying on us from his window? No, probably not. Once I had him figured out, I'd deal with him then tell Anna.

She raised an eye brow waiting for me to finish my sentence.

"My classmate's girlfriend, she goes to your high school, actually."

She raced up to her room. I got up to get the mail. Unlike back home, the mailbox was at the very end near the curb. That would be a total bother during the winter months. Our old mailbox was attached to the house so all you had to do was stick out your hand and reach inside.

I saw a car coming down the street and pulled into Sam's house. A girl with dark clothing and dyed black hair with green streaks stepped out. She knocked on the door and waited for Sam to come out. She glanced around impatiently. I was too busy noticing across the street that a car came to a halt in front of me. It was the kid from next door.

"Don't stare at her too long, she likes to throw things," he told me nodding over to the girl in Sam's drive way.

"And how would you know that?" I asked.

"I know all the psychos in this town," he said. "She's not a force to be reckoned with."

"I'm not a force to be reckoned with," I corrected him. "I see you spying on me and my little sister. What gives?"

"I'll see you around, neighbor." He continued forward and parked into his house. I rolled my eyes and went back inside the house. I set the mail on the table up front and went up to my room.

I threw myself on my bed and pressed my palms onto my eyes. I could see small fireworks in my eyes before I heard voices. At first I thought it was from down stairs but then I noticed it was from outside my window. I sat up.

I rose and walked over to my window. I saw Sam, her friend and my neighbor Elliott discussing something. I couldn't exactly hear them but I could tell they were arguing.

Sam suggested something and they agreed. They walked off toward the back. I tried to see where they were headed but I couldn't tell at this angle. I raced over to Anna's room. She was on her bed reading a magazine.

"Hey, where's the fire?" she asked.

I glanced out her window to see the three of them walking toward the abandoned house. I turned to see my sister.

"Nothing," I lied. "I thought I saw something fall. Aren't you supposed to do homework, any way?"

She snorted. "No."

I walked back out of her room and over to mine. I sent some e-mails to old friends to let them know how I was doing. They responded quickly but I shut it down. My mind was still on my neighbors and the girl. Why was he warning me about the punk girl but yet run off with her to that creepy house. Who was I to question them, I just got here.


	4. Summer In Progress

Later on I took a shower to get ready for bed. My dad was inside putting in my new closet doors. He asked about my day and I just told him it was fine. He didn't pry for detail to my relief and exited a few minutes later.

I lay in bed trying to fall asleep but I didn't feel tired and I didn't have school tomorrow morning so I was in no rush. Eventually I fell asleep and the last thing I saw was the light from the house next door turned on.

I woke the next morning around nine. I sat up and saw a newspaper on my desk. Curious, I walked over and picked it up. There were already circles on want ads and such. I smiled, my mom can be a productive woman. I flipped through it to see if she left some kind of note but nothing.

This time before I got dressed I turned to check if the peeping Tom was at the window. Seeing that no one was there, I got dressed into shorts and and a purple t-shirt. I made a quick stop at the bathroom and continued down stairs. Mom was gone so I made myself a bowl of cereal. I looked at the circled parts of the newspaper, only two places looked appealing: a coffee place and a movie rental place. Of course they were out of town because Old Passage was too damn small.

I looked for something local like something owner run. And my mom didn't check those so I figured I'd stroll around town to check these places out and get to know the town better. The town didn't have much to offer but people went along down the busy streets hurrying to work or some place else.

"Hi Stevie," came a voice way too happy from behind. I turned around to see Thalia and Gavin walking toward me hand in hand.

"Hey guys," I said.

"I wanted to text you but I didn't have your number," she said. "My dad has an opening at his diner a few streets down from here. We can go there now if you aren't busy."

"Oh," I said taken a back. "That'd be great. Thank you."

The three of us walked down to Seventh Street Diner. It was a cozy little place I guess you could call it. Lots of people were inside talking and eating, mostly elders. Thalia lead Gavin and I to the counter. She disappeared toward the back and he and I sat on the stools. I spun myself once and I heard him chuckle.

"Thalia wasn't in our class was she?" I asked him.

"No, she moved here when I was in fifth grade, after you moved," he told me. "Had a crush on her ever since."

I found it terribly cute the way he talked about Thalia. I could tell they had been together for quite some time from what I saw they did things out of habit not because they were trying to be cute for one another. He held her hand as if second nature and pulled our chairs and opened doors like he was to attend her every whim. She reappeared with a man behind her who I assumed would be her dad. He smiled at Gavin and me as well.

"You look just like your parents," Thalia's dad told me. "I didn't think they'd want to come back."

I shrugged. "Neither did I."

"Thalia tells me you're looking for a summer job," he said. "If you really want it, it's all yours."

"Gee, thanks Mr.-" I didn't know Thalia's last name so I had no idea what to call him. I probably looked like an idiot stumbling over my own words.

"Yates but you can call me boss."

The next day Thalia trained me in the arts of waitressing. It's a lot harder then it sounds and trust me be glad you don't have to share my pain. She pointed out the regulars to me and what was most requested from the menu. I spent most of the time there once my summer class was over. Gavin came by a lot when Thalia worked her shift.

I'd sometimes see Sam and her moody, snappy friend at a booth just talking and stealing glancing over at Thalia and I.

"What's up with Sam and her pit bull of a friend?" I asked.

"That's Nora," she old me. "She's all talk but not much of a bite."

"I saw them sneaking off with Elliott."

"Elliott?"

"Yeah, Mister I'm-So-Cool-Shit."

"I know who he is, I just find it weird."

Summer continued and I kept on working. That's what my summer consisted of work and hanging with Anna every once in a while. Oh and not to mention flicking off wars with Elliott through the window. Once Anna got herself settled in and made new friends, she thought it would be a good idea to host a party before she started her sophomore year of high school.

Now, if it were back home where the grand total wasn't less then a thousand people I would recommend it. Everyone would know about it and word would get around back to my parents. But once Anna had something in her head, I couldn't just let her go through it alone. I helped her out because what ever she did it was automatically my fault according to our parents.

My parents had trusted us home alone plenty of times for weekends at a time. So when party time came around, we hid the stuff in my closet since I had more room then her overly crowded doors could handle. She spent much more time in my room planning.

"We have to go party shopping," Anna said. She flopped onto my bed beside me.

"I thought we already did that Friday," I said turning to look at her. Today she hadn't waved her hair like she usually did, it was straight. It was creepy how much she resembled me except for our eyes. It was like we were twins except I was four years older. We had fairly the same complexion and if you caught us on a good day strangers liked to ask us if we were identical twins. Go figure.

She sat back up and checked her face for any blemishes on my mirror. She stopped and stared out my window. She furrowed her eye brows and her mouth dropped. With her reaction, I knew she spotted Elliott. I sat up and went to see what she was seeing.

Elliott was shirtless once more and getting ready to head out by looks.

"I should have picked this room," Anna said.

"He's a cocky jerk," I laughed. "You're better off with some high school jock."

"That doesn't change how hot he is, sis." Her eyes widened and she turned to look at me. I could see the wheels turning in her head. A plot was forming and I could feel myself already starting to panic.

"Anna-"

"We should invite him to the party this Saturday!"

"Um, no bad idea. He's a twenty something and in college. He doesn't want to hang with a bunch of high school kids," I told her.

"Thalia and Gavin are coming."

"That's because Thalia's in high school and Gavin is her boyfriend."

"Come on, Steves! He can buy us the beer or something, that's all we'll tell him."

"Anna, no."

Of course, she didn't listen to me. The next day when she spotted Elliott doing yard work she hurried on outside to speak with him. I saw bat her eye lashes and flash him cute smiles. He smiled back and agreed to do what ever she told him to. Some how, I was afraid Anna was going to get me in some kind of trouble.


	5. Party Chasers

The day of the party came around and we had the house to ourselves. We made sure everything was out and ready like chips, sodas, red plastic cups and Anna had ordered a few pizzas. She had slipped into a skimpy little blue over the shoulder dress with a beaded neckline. She wore her hair straight so I could wear mine wavy. I wore a simple shorts and tank top piece. They looked like two separate pieces because the top was white from the waist up but from the waist down it was black.

The music was pumping from the back and people were having a good time. So far so good. I walked around talking to some of the high schoolers. They probably thought I was Anna or something because they talked about people I didn't know and asked about school. That's when I would duck away and try and find some of my own friends.

I spotted Sam and her dark friend coming in from outside. I found it really strange since she barely gave anybody a sentence much less a word. I walked over to them.

"Hi, are you having a good time?" I asked with a smile.

"Not bad, Kendall, not bad at all," her friend said. "I'm impressed."

I assumed she thought I was Anna. I still smiled. Sam tapped her arm and said something. I saw her lips move but I wasn't able to make out what she said.

"You look a lot like Anna," the girl said. "Except for the eyes of course."

"Now that's an insult," I joked.

The girl smirked and reached out to shake my hand. "I'm Nora, by the way. Stevie, right?"

I nodded. Sam smiled. A guy came over to talk to her and her smile faded as he started to talk and the more he talked the more uninterested she became in him. Sam handed her drink to Nora to hold. She took a step forward to the guy approaching her.

"Go away," Sam said. I was shocked. I could actually hear her this time. It was clear and I could hear a bit of annoyance in her voice. The guy blinked and turned on his heel. Once he left, Sam was smiling again.

"How did you do that?" I asked surprised.

"Simple," she said. I could barely hear her but it was enough for me to hear her small, quiet voice. I spotted Gavin and Thalia near the stairs I waved them over. Gavin spotted me first and nudged his girlfriend. Thalia spotted me too and they walked toward me.

Both of them looked amazing, like a power couple. They could run this town if they wanted to but they were fairly quiet people. Gavin was just in jeans and a t-shirt. Thalia wore a tube top with some jeans and leather boots. Her brown hair was up to reveal her neck.

"Great party!" Thalia said as Gavin slid an arm around her shoulder casually. "I think all of Old Passage is here."

Over the chatter I heard the doorbell. Someone must have closed the door on accident. I figured Anna would get it but the door bell rang again. I excused myself and made my way to the front door. I opened it to see Elliott with a steel keg on his shoulder.

"Brought the party favors," he said walking. "Where should I put it?"

I crossed my arms and lead him to the back yard in hopes that some would get out of the house. And they did like a herd of cows. Anna weaved her way to the front to bring the cups. Elliott poured each of them a cup as I watched.

He wasn't dressed at all for a party. He wore a faded gray v-neck and tattered jeans with a pair of converse. He wore a black zipper sweater with a hood.

"How old did your fake ID say?" I asked as he poured beer in a girl's cup.

"Fake ID? You're cute, you know that?"

"I'm serious."

"I didn't need one. I can buy my own beer, you know?"

"Well, you can stay if you want."

I entered back into the house to find Anna. She was hanging with some of her friends in the kitchen munching on some chips. I yanked her to one side.

"What?" she asked annoyed.

"We're going to need a few designated drivers," I told her.

"Relax, Elliott offered to be one and I know you'll be responsible to be one too."

"Anna-"

"Stevie," she sang and slipped through my grip. She returned to her friends. I walked back out to the living room where people were using it as a dance floor. I spotted Sam, Nora and Thalia dancing together and Gavin off to the side watching them. I walked over to him.

"I don't dance," he told me before I could as why he wasn't on the dance floor made mostly from of my living room.

"Can't or won't?" I asked.

"Won't," he corrected.

I smiled. "Good enough. Listen, I think I'm going to need a few sober drivers-"

"Designated drivers?" he asked with a smile.

"Yeah. I hope that's okay?"

"Count me in and Thalia, she isn't much of a drinker." I watched him watch Thalia. His eyes were intently on her as if no one else existed in this room. I could tell he was really protective of her by the way his eyes moved with every movement Thalia made. I was happy for Thalia to have a guy like him. They were a perfect fit.

I looked around and saw Elliott talking to a curly dark blonde hair man with intense blue eyes. He looked like the kind of guy that would knock you out with one punch. I figured it to be his brother Nathan. I saw him a few times but I never got a good glimpse of him until now.

I saw Anna walk over. I could feel my ears burn with embarrassment as I knew she would make a fool of herself in front of older guys. I rushed over until I ran into someone's chest and I looked up startled. He had dark skin and a brilliant smile, that's as much as I could make out anyway.

"Hi, sorry, I've been watching you since that side of the room," he said jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "I know you're Anna's sister but you're freaking hot."

I smiled apologetically. "Thanks, but you're in high school."'

He chuckled. "No, no. I was in your Latin class. I just know Anna through mutual friends."

"Oh, sorry," I said. As he talked, I looked over his shoulder. Elliott and his brother seemed amused with Anna so I relaxed a bit.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked. I was so worried about Anna that I missed half of what he said. I didn't know if he even told me his name. Just to keep it safe, I smiled again slightly.

"Sorry," I said. "I have host duties to attended to. Maybe later?"

I tried to walk past him but he grabbed my arm. I came to a halt and looked up at him. His eyes were a deep red and the arm which held mine was a tattoo that glowed faintly. What the hell? I tugged but he wouldn't let go. There was no way I was escaping his grip.

"Let me go!" I hissed and threw my drink down his front.

"Infernal doppelganger!" he snarled his eyes flashing dangerously in an animalistic kind of way. It was scary, I could feel my heart beating like crazy.

Before I could make another attempt to free myself, a fist went straight into the creepy guy's cheek and next thing I know Elliott is above him punching any thing that he could reach. People gasped and moved out of the way. Nora and Thalia rushed forward to my aid as Gavin and Elliott's brother took him off the guy.

"Scram," Elliott's brother snapped at onlookers. "Party's over."

"What'd he say to you, Stevie?" Thalia asked beside me, clearly worried.

"He wanted to dance and I said no. He grabbed my arm and wouldn't let me go," I said.

"Anything else?" Gavin asked coming forward. Sam and Anna tried to come forward but Thalia shot them a look. Sam grabbed Anna's arm and muttered something. Anna backed away and went into the empty kitchen to clean up. "This is important, Steves."

"Well, his eyes glowed red and he had this mark in his arm that glowed for like a second," I said.

"He called her a doppelganger," Elliott said jerking away from his brother. He seemed to have cooled down enough to talk. He had blood on his shirt and a bloody nose. He glanced down at the unconscious body on the ground. He gave it another good kick and his brother stopped him before he could fit in another.

"How the hell did a Chaser get in town?" Nora asked angrily. "Shouldn't you have seen this coming, Little Miss Fortune Teller."

"I don't get to pick what I see," Thalia snapped back. "I just saw Elliott with blood."

"Can someone let me in with what's happening?" I asked interrupting them loudly. Elliott's brother muttered about helping Sam and Anna and stalked off. In a matter of seconds, Sam reappeared.

"I wish this wasn't the way to tell you but it's better if you know," Gavin started.

"Um, I can tell her," Thalia cut in.

"You're a doppelganger, Stevie," Elliott said wiping some blood from his nose. Trust Elliott to get to the point. "You're a legendary creature like the rest of us."

They explained how a doppelganger was a double of a person. Some where out there was a person that looked just like me. How creepy is that? I wondered if any of them had met the other me before.

They were all nice enough to help me and Anna clean up the house and the guys except Elliott drove the drunken kids home, bloody nosed and all.

"So, what are you?" I asked Thalia as she held open the garbage bag. I threw in a few plastic cups.

"I'm an Oracle," she said.

"You see into the future?"

"Every once in a while, yeah."

I threw in some chips. I tossed the cushions back on the couch. I saw Sam and Nora in the kitchen throwing cans away.

"What about them?" I asked nodding over to the girls. Thalia glanced in their direction.

"Sam's a vila."

"A what?"

"Insanely beautiful legendary creatures that have the power of persuasion, kind of like sirens except they don't kill sailors," Thalia joked. "Nora's a land nymph. She isn't exactly pleased with who she is but we can't help who we are."

"And Gavin?" I asked. We moved into the dinning room where it was still uncleaned. A few chairs were knocked over, cups scattered, a soda stain on the mat and crumbs on the floor. I threw in the cups.

"He's a daemon."

"As in-"

"As in not from Hell."

"What's the difference?"

"Demons are celestial legendary, daemons are mythical. They're in between god and humans. They protect a particular place or person."

I gave a nod. As I dumped off another load I noticed the bag was full. I took it and went to go drop it off outside near the front door. I saw Elliott on the porch steps with an ice bag on his head. Guilt flared in me with the way he looked. I set the bag down and sighed. I walked over to him and took a seat beside him to adjust the placement of the bag and he winced. His nose seemed to have stopped bleeding to my relief.

"I think this is the part when I'm supposed to thank you," I teased.

"Then just thank me already," he said coldly.

"You're such a dick!" I couldn't think anything else to say so I stood. I figured now wouldn't be the right now to ask him what he was. I got to my door when I heard him say one more thing.

"I'm a witch," Elliott said. "If you were wondering. I paralyzed his body once he hit the floor so I could hit him better."

I walked back inside and continued to pick up and clean. Some time later Sam and Nora left shortly followed by Elliott and his brother. Gavin and Thalia were the only ones here. The house looked some what decent, I'd just have to take the bags full of proof of the party and toss it and maybe vacuum a little bit.

"Thanks for helping out," I told them after Anna went up the stairs. Gavin draped his jacket around Thalia's shoulders.

"No problem," Thalia said. "You would have done the same for us."

"Don't worry about the Chaser," Gavin told me. "We'll take care of him."

I smiled at them and wished them a good night. They did the same and hurried off my porch. I closed the door and hurried up the stairs. Anna was in the bathroom cleaning her face and already in her pajamas.

"Well this was a fun night," she said.

"Oh yeah, getting harassed by a psycho. We should do this again," I retorted. I went into my room. She followed.

"No," Anna said. "I meant about Elliott coming to your rescue. I think he has a thing for you."

I laughed. Now that was funny.

"That's unlikely." She walked back out of my room and I heard her door close down the hall. I went to go wash my face and changed inside the bathroom. I walked into my room. And I could see the light from Elliott's window on. I went over to see if I could catch a glimpse of what he was doing.

I could see him in sweat pants walk over to his closet where he threw in tonight's bloody clothes. He finally saw me staring and I blushed. He walked over to his window and did his signature flick off. I wanted to do the same but I didn't.

I raised my index finger to signal him to wait for a second. I hurried over to my desk and grabbed a piece of paper and a Sharpie. I quickly scribbled a little note large enough for him to see. I hurried back to my window and luckily he was still there waiting for me.

I raised the paper and pressed it to the glass. He smiled a little and looked back up at me. I saw him mouth the words 'your welcome.' He uncrossed his arms and shut his blinds. I crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it in the trash. I climbed into bed and turned off my light.


	6. Just Watch

"Please tell me it won't fall on us?" I asked Sam about a week later. School had started and we all had survived our first week back. Sam promised to keep an eye on Anna while in school and so far she has done so. Nora was a senior this year so she popped in and out of college from time to time. Thalia now a freshmen, had a class with me usually we'd meet up with Gavin.

I learned that Elliott wasn't thrilled about the assembly. That's what a group of legendary, mythical creatures are called, according to Thalia. He didn't want any part of it and the others didn't pressure him. He only partnered up with them once when they were trying to figure out who I was then he bailed.

Nora was in the same boat. She would meet up with us from time to time but kept a lot to herself. But that's okay, Gavin said she would come around since Sam was starting to. I was apparently the sixth member.

Sam and I had sneaked out of our houses one night to the big abandoned house on the lonely road. She said that's where the assembly usually practiced on their free time. Since I was an official member, Sam took me to it.

She laughed her musical laugh. "Of course not." Now that Sam wasn't as shy she began to talk more and I didn't have to lean in to hear. We walked in as the boards moaned under our weight.

All the furniture was covered in white sheets and dust was mounted on everything. Foots prints on the ground told me they came here a lot. I could hear the wind whistle outside and I had a strange feeling about this place. Sam lead me up the stairs. We passed the second floor and up to the attic. It wasn't any better then the rest of the house.

"What do you practice?" I asked her.

"Charm," Sam said. "Vilas always need to mature their charm or it'll fade away."

"Hmm, I see," I said looking around. "That's why guys are so attracted to you?"

"Pretty much," she said. "It gets annoying really." My sister would have a heart attack if she heard her say something like that. I let her practice on me and now that I stood in front of her I found it incredibly hard to say no to her. She could of asked me to kill myself and I probably would have done it, happily, all just to please her. It was insanely creepy.

It was around midnight when we decided to head home. We skipped along laughing and talking.

"I wonder what you can do," Sam said thoughtfully as we cut through the field toward my house. It's not like I haven't thought of it before but I never said it aloud to anyone. I'd probably ask Gavin or Thalia about it tomorrow. We stopped in between the house to bid each other good night and I watched Sam run off to her house.

I sneaked back inside my own house and up to my room. I saw Elliott's light was off. He must have been in bed. I saw him arrive home some time around seven. He worked at the college to pay off his final semester according to Nora. She seemed to have in interest in Elliott but I didn't pry her for information.

One day as Nora, Thalia and I sat in the caf to do homework, but mostly I was asking Thalia about doppelgangers. She didn't have many answers for me. She suggested I talk to Gavin, he would know more.

"Speaking of boyfriends," Nora said her eyes wandering past us and some where far away. "Sam's been telling me your little sister has a thing for Elliott." I turned around almost to expect Elliott right behind me but he wasn't, he was at the counter helping a costumer.

"Anna has crushes on everyone, it'll die away trust me," I told her. "How do you know this? Anna hasn't even told me yet." I eyed her suspiciously.

"Don't have a wig, I begged Sam to tell me," Nora said.

"Begged?" Thalia scoffed. "More like scared her into telling you."

"Well, either way, why do you care?" I asked trying to get back on track. Nora had a tight frown. Even though she acted tough and many feared her, she was fairly pretty. Past the nose piercing and eye brow piercing and under her dark hair, Nora had big blue green eyes and rosy cheeks. Kind of like a modern day punk Snow White.

"Because I know Elliott and he's not a good guy," she told me.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Elliott cleaning table a few tables back. He spotted me and smirked and invited himself over.

"Anything I can do for you, ladies?" Elliott asked wiping his hands on his jeans. His cocky smirk made me roll my eyes. I was more used to his middle finger flying then a smirk which was closer to a smile.

"Keep walking, Ames," Nora said. Elliott walked off and glanced over his shoulder to see if we were watching. He seemed to know we were talking about him. What ever happened between Nora and Elliott by sounds did not end well. So if Anna had a crush on him I had to make sure it would whither away fast. I didn't want her to get her heart broken. And knowing what he was, I don't know what kind of game he was playing at.

Later on that day, I went off to work with Thalia. Gavin sat on the stool just watching us work. When we weren't waiting tables, he told me all he knew about doppelgangers. It wasn't a whole lot but he promised to let me know more once he talked to his grandfather. He was a daemons too.

"From what I know," he began. "There's someone out there that looks just like you. There's a lot of dark stories revolving around them like one taking over their double's life and driving the counter part insane."

"You aren't exactly easing me into this, are you?" I asked throwing my towel over my shoulder.

"You did want to know but don't worry I should have new information for you. Maybe even find your other half?"

"Ha ha."

"Oh, come on, that was funny. Humor me."

I laughed and he did too. I saw a man and his kids enter the diner and I walked toward them with menus. I asked them what they would want to drink and they told me. I scurried back behind the counter and filled their drinks.

"Hey, what do you know about Elliott and Nora?" I asked.

"Like what?" Gavin asked his eye brows coming together. I set the drinks on the tray and headed back over to the table of the single father. I set their drinks and offered them another minute to decided what they would have. I walked back to Gavin.

"Like did they date or something?" I asked. "She's telling me my sister has a crush on him and that he isn't a good guy."

I walked back to the table with my note pad to write down their order. I knew they were regulars so I practically knew their order from the top of my head: burger with fries hold the onions, nuggets with curly fries and fish sticks slightly burned with a side of ranch. I walked back to the counter and handed the slip to the cook Gary. I turned back to Gavin to continue our conversation. Thalia was with him this time.

"Well, I did know she liked him three years ago," Gavin told me.

"And what happened?" I asked.

"She told him and he rejected her," he said with a shrug. "That's about it."

"Why do you think he rejected her?"

"Too young? Not interested? I don't know," he said.

I didn't ask him any more. I didn't exactly want to know the details. If it made Nora really hate him I had to know how bad my sister was crushing on him.

I didn't get home until nine and I had my mind set to go straight to my room to do my homework. I was falling behind and I was going to use tonight to catch up on my assignments. I closed the front door.

"You home, Steves?" came my parents from the living room.

"Yeah, it's me," I called. "I'm going to my room."

"Aren't you going to eat?" Mom asked.

"Had dinner with Thalia!"

I went up the stairs and went into my room. I heard giggling and laughter coming from my sister's room down the hall. I walked over to see what she was doing. Anna was on her bed smiling down at her phone.

"Hi," I said sitting on her bed. "Your smile makes me think you're getting into trouble again."

Anna rolled her eyes. "It's my friend," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh yeah? And does he happen to be a guy?"

"Maybe."

"Who is he?" I asked.

"You don't know him."

"Anna, we live in a pretty small town."

"Don't worry about it."

"It wouldn't happen to be Elliott would it?"

Anna looked at me surprised. "Your hot window neighbor? No. Has he asked about me?" That's all I needed to know to tell me she had a massive crush on him. Her expressions, the excitement, my sister was an open book. I laid down and looked over at her.

"Listen, Anna, this guy is a class A dick," I told her. "And he's seven years older then you."

"I can't help it, he's so hot!" Anna said looking at me. "He's real sweet with me." I knew I wouldn't be able to talk her out of it. Once she has her mind made it she's like a dog with a bone. If only she knew how he acted with me.

I went back to my room. I saw Elliott over by the window, he was looking over here just waiting for me to come in. I walked over to my desk and wrote another note. I walked over to my window and showed it to him.

I saw him laugh and he waved me over as in invitation to come over to his house. I chuckled and shook my head. He blew me a kiss. I caught it and smeared it on the window. He laughed and clutched at his heart feigning heart break. I shut my curtains. Just as I sat down my curtains tore open. Alarmed, I jumped and I knew instantly it had to be Elliott. I walked over and there he was. He pointed to his own eye then to me the universal sign of 'I'm watching you.' I left my curtains just as they were and walked away.


	7. Research Project

I got to school the next day bright and early to find out my class was canceled. I didn't mind it gave me a few minutes to rest my eyes in the caf. It wasn't very busy and Elliott wasn't here to my relief.

"Hi," came an unfamiliar voice. "Mind if I sit with you?"

I opened my eyes to see a guy from my canceled class. I only recognized him since he sat a few rows in front of me.

"Uh, yeah sure." I moved my stuff out of the way so he could sit. I assumed his name to be Danny but I didn't say anything just in case I was wrong.

"I don't have class until eleven," he told me.

"Me too," I said. "I don't mind the extra time though."

"Yeah, me too," he said with a smile. I felt a hand on the back of my chair and I looked up to see who it was. It was Elliott. My heart welled up agitated at his arrival. He had to show up now, just my luck.

"Hey neighbor," he said. "Mind blowing off kid?" Elliott nodded off to a different direction. The guy named Danny got up and bid me good bye until the next class period. Elliott took a seat in his chair.

"You're an ass," I demanded. "I was just talking to the guy."

"Could have been a Chaser, you know," he said raising an eye brow. "I'd be more thankful if I were you."

"Nobody said I wasn't," I retorted. "Why are you sitting with me again? I don't remember asking you to sit down."

"I heard about your doppelganger problem," he said. "I know a thing or two about doppelgangers. I come from a long line of witches."

"Is this a joke or something?"

"Ames, take your shift," the guy from the counter said. He was taking off the black apron. Elliott looked over at the other student and back at me.

"It's not, I'm being serious. My shift ends at six. When will you be home?" he asked me standing.

"Seven," I said.

"Cool, see you then." He walked off to the counter and got ready for work. He didn't bother me for a good hour and I couldn't be more grateful.

I knew not to take his words seriously but I needed as much information as I could to learn about myself. And who ever was out there that looked like me or was it another way around? When I went off to work, Sam, Nora and Anna came into the diner.

"I hope you guys aren't here to cause me grief," I said as I walked over to them. I handed them each a menu even though they probably already knew it by heart now.

"Us cause you any trouble?" Nora asked.

"Never," Anna said with a smile.

They ordered with out looking at the menu and I went to place the order. Nobody was really in here. I wasn't exactly lunch time nor was it dinner. I went to go talk to them in the mean time. I sat beside Anna.

"I hear Gavin's helping you with your, uh, research project," Sam said.

"He is and so is Elliott," I said. "I think."

"Elliott?" Nora asked raising an eye brow. "Now that's odd."

"You're telling me," I said. "But I'd suppose he knows a fair amount of information."

Sam nodded in agreement but Anna and Nora didn't say anything. I wasn't sure if they were with me or against me on this one. Anna changed the subject to something about a dance at her school in the upcoming moth for Halloween. The three of them were going and planning on asking some guys well except Sam I'm pretty sure they'd be asking her.

I went back to work to leave them to their high school girl talk. Once they ate, they paid and left. They left a drawing of two identical stick people, as a joke. I shook my head and pocketed along side with the tip.

I drove home around seven fifteen. As I pulled up the drive way. I saw someone siting on the porch. I couldn't tell who it was right away because of their raised hood. I walked over to them to see it was only Elliott. He pocketed his phone and stood.

"You're punctual?" I asked.

"Sarcasm," he noted. "You sure do use it a lot."

"Only for you, neighbor," I said walking past him and up the step. He followed. I opened the door and I heard my mom playing with pots and pans in the kitchen. I shut the door as Elliott walked in. He gazed around as if amazed to be walking through the front door to my house.

"Mom, I'm home," I called.

"How was work, sweetie?"

"Fine. I'll be up in my room, I have company."

"Does your friend want to stay for dinner?"

I looked over to Elliott. He shook his head furiously. "No!" I called back. We went up stairs to my room as Anna came down. She didn't say anything and neither did we. Elliott and I walked in to my room and I shut the door.

"Oh, kinky," he said once it shut.

"Shut up," I said I threw my jacket aside and let down my hair. He took a seat on my desk chair and I sat on my bed. "Just tell me, please."

"It's not much but it was in my great-great-grandma's old grimoire," he said. "She helped a doppelganger get rid of her counter part."

"I thought grimoires were like spell books or something," I said crossing my legs Indian style.

"They are," Elliott said. "But they can act as diaries too. It all depends on the witch."

"Wouldn't that made you a wizard or warlock or something?"

"The politically correct term is a witch," he said annoyed. "Do you want me to tell you or not?"

"Sorry. Go on." Sheesh, touchy.

"Right, so, the doppelganger that she befriended was being tormented from her counter part. According to the journal, it described them as being tethered together," he explained.

"What do you mean?"

"They're kind of like the same person except in two different bodies. When one felt a strong emotion the other felt it too. One was depressed, the other was sad; one was happy and the other was in a good mood; and if one fell in love—"

"The other had feelings for the same person?" I guessed.

"Yeah, tethered together," he repeated. He interlocked his two index fingers for emphasis.

"Is it even possible to find this person?" I asked playing with my hair. My mind was racing with the stuff he was telling me. Who ever was out there could feel my emotions or vice versa? He crossed his arms.

"I dunno, it's an accident that those two were found," he told me. "Doppelgangers don't even know they have a counter part. There's a whole population out there."

"Well, that Chaser knew I was a doppelganger so he must have run into my double," I pointed out.

I saw him gaze out in deep thought and slightly chewing the inside of his cheek. I thought about it too but there must be some way to find my other half. They could be in China or Russia for all I know. They might know I exist or they may not, who knows. Before I could continue on to ask more questions, my mom called out to me.

"Stevie, you have a visitor!" she yelled up the stairs. Elliott narrowed his eyes at me but I was truly surprised. Who would come and see me at this time? I got up and went to open my bed room door. Elliott got up and followed. We trotted down the stairs.

It was Gavin.. He and my mom spoke happily and glanced at me when I came down. Gavin's smile faded slightly but he recovered unlike my mom who just frowned. Her eyes widened as she saw Elliott at my side.

"Steves, I didn't know your friend over was the neighbor," she said trying to sound okay with it but I knew she wasn't.

"Uh, yeah, hey Gavin," I said with a smile. "I didn't know you were stopping by."

"I had some information for you, well for your um research project," he said. "Are you busy?" He glanced at Elliott. Elliott scowled.

"No come on up, Elliott's helping me too," I said. Gavin came up the stairs and the three of us went up to my room.

"Keep your door open, Stevie!" Mom hollered. We walked over in to my room and took a seat. Elliott sat across from us on my desk chair and Gavin and I sat on my bed.

"I had to ask my grandpa what he knew about doppelgangers since he's a historian at a university," Gavin said.

"Get to the point, Creed," Elliott interrupted. I sent him a few death glares to shut him up and before he had anything else to say.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and tell Gavin what you already told me," I snapped at him. And he did to my surprise. I guess it was a surprise to Gavin too because he kept on nodding to Elliott's words.

"Is there anything new that you found out?" I asked Gavin.

"Uh, only a few things," Gavin said. "He told me it is possible to find your other half, it's been done before."

"Really?" I asked excited. "How?"

"He didn't tell me exactly how," he told us. "But I think your best bet would be to use a witch." He glanced at Elliott just as he crossed his arms and instantly had a tight frown. He didn't look pleased.

"You mean me?" Elliott asked. "I told you I'm not being part of your stupid assembly."

"I'm not saying you have to be with us," Gavin shot back. "You just have to help Stevie."

"Gavin, it's fine. If he doesn't want to help I'll find another witch," I piped up as Elliott got to his feet to leave. Elliott raised his hood over his head and walked out of my room. Gavin and I followed. Elliott stomped down the stairs and shut the door on his way out.

"I'm sorry about him," I said nodding over to the door. "He was totally not an asshole before you got here."

"Don't apologize for him," Gavin said. "I get it he doesn't want to be connected with us what so ever." I gave a nod. He walked out of the house and I shut the door behind him. I sighed heavily and went up stairs. Just as I was about to re-enter my room, I heard Anna call out to me. I walked over to her room.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked coming in.

"Were Elliott and Gavin arguing?" she asked.

"Elliott doesn't exactly like Gavin or me for that matter."

"Why?"

"I don't know, Anna."

"But do you want him to like you?"

"It doesn't matter, I guess. Good night."

I walked back to my room and changed into pajamas. I hesitated before I took off my jeans. I checked Elliott's window and since I got here his blinds were drawn so he couldn't see into my room. I must have really ticked him if he didn't want to be a creep tonight.


	8. Forgiven

I changed in peace and got in bed to do some homework. But my mind wasn't into it. I was thinking about the person that looked like me. Could we do some amazing things if we were reunited? Was she part of an assembly? I only wanted to meet her once, that's it. I didn't even have to keep in contact with her.

As the clock struck eleven thirty, I set my books aside and snuggled into bed. I felt the familiar warmness of my blanket and the wonderful sensation of comfort and relaxation. I yawned widely. I was off to sleep.

Days dragged on and I hung out with my friends and the end of October was coming. Anna dragged me shopping so I could help her pick a costume for the Halloween dance. We made our way to the closest mall from Old Passage which was an hour drive.

"So who are you going with?" I asked as she looked at herself in a full length mirror. She had tried on a sexy witch costume. I bit my lip and twirled my finger to indicate for her to turn. She did and raised an eye brow in question. I shook my head. She swept back into fitting room.

"If I tell you who my first option was, promise you won't get mad," Anna said from inside. I could hear the caution in her voice. I almost didn't want to know but I asked anyway.

"Who?"

"Elliott."

"Um, why?" I asked. "What did he say?"

"Don't have a cow, Steves, I'm not allowed to bring a guest over twenty one years old," she said. "Then Jonas asked me out to the dance so I said yes. Oh, look at these!" I got up from my seat and went to go see what she was talking about. In the tiny fitting room she held up two costumes, they were the same angel costume except one was white and one was black.

"Remember when we were kids and mom would dress us the same?" Anna asked her eyes huge with excitement. "Put on the fallen angel costume!"

"I'm not putting it on, I don't need a costume," I said. She shoved the costume in my arms and closed the door in my face. I chuckled and went into the next fitting room and tried it on. It was incredibly short and very revealing but I kind of liked it. The halo was clipped to my hair and hovered over head a few inches.

"Steves, come out, I wanna see!" Anna said. I opened the door and stepped out. Anna's costume looked pretty good in. She checked herself in the mirror. "Ooh, I love it! You should get that costume, it looks awesome."

"What for? I'm only passing out candy," I said. "I'll throw on a jersey and be a fan or something. No big deal." She and I went back into the fitting room to change into our regular clothes. She purchased the costume and we headed to the food court. We ordered some tacos and took a seat at one of the booths.

"But it looked great on you!" Anna insisted. She was still talking about the costume. She poked at her salad waiting for me to answer.

"Just finish up, we gotta go home." She ate quietly with out another word which was rare in her case. Anna was never one to go down quietly.

We went back home so I could meet up with Thalia. She and I made plans to go candy shopping for the trick or treaters. We had also planned to hang out while Sam, Anna and Nora went to the dance. As I got home from candy shopping, I saw Elliott outside doing yard work.

I walked over to him and he stopped raking leaves when he saw me approach. He crossed his arms and looked at me expectantly. I sighed and did the same.

"I'm sorry, okay?" I told him. "I don't know what I did to offend you but I'm sorry. It's not like I wanna use you or anything, much less try and make you part of the assembly."

He pondered my words over for a second. He looked down at his feet and kicked a few leaves. He looked back up at me as he uncrossed his arms.

"Look, I'll never be the guy you want me to be," Elliott told me. "I never have been for anyone and I'm not changing for you."

"I'm not asking for you to change," I said. "What kind of friend would I be if I asked you to change. I shouldn't have asked so much right away. I'll see you later." I walked off and hurried into the house. I knew I was forgiven later on that night because his blinds were open. Once I came into my room I saw him at his window.

I walked over trying not to smile as I shook my head. He tilted his head up slightly to ask what was going on. I shrugged. He raised his index finger to indicate for me to wait and I did. He returned in a few seconds with a dry erase board. In purple words he had written a message for me.

"Sorry for being a dramatic jerk."

I smiled and shrugged it off. I shut my curtains and climbed into bed. Once I was settled, my curtains tore open. I smiled to myself. I was in his good graces again. I turned over and closed my eyes


	9. Grimoires

The next day I straightened Anna hair so it was perfectly straight like mine and curled at the bottom. Then she propped it up in a perfect pony tail so it'd be easier to put up the white halo. She then slipped into the angel costume. She had bought body glitter and it made her look like a real angel. Contrasted with the white, her hazel eyes looked slight more green.

"You look so cute," I said sitting on her bed.

"Speaking of looking cute, I know you said you didn't want it but I thought you looked cute in it-" Anna began. She walked over to her closet and opened it. Inside was the black angel costume from the store. My jaw dropped.

"Anna-"

"Well I know you're on candy giving duty until ten and then you're heading out with Thalia and Gavin so I thought you'd need a nice costume," she said smiling sweetly.

"A provocative costume?" I asked raising an eye brow.

She gave me her mega watt smile. I got up and went to look the costume in her closet. It was a good fit and I liked it. I looked over at Anna and hugged her in thanks. She hugged me tight before a loud honk came from outside.

"That's Jonas!" Anna said. We bounced down the stairs. She grabbed her jacket on her way out and rushed to the rusty brown truck on the drive way. She hopped in and immediately stared to talk to her date. She waved over to me, I waved in fare well.

"So, uh, who babysits you when you're home alone?" came a voice from my right. I turned to see Elliott coming toward me with his hands in his pockets and his hood raised. My parents had gone out to dinner to avoid the trick or treaters.

"I can take care of myself thank you very much," I said trying not to smile. He handed me an old wad of a newspaper. I took it suspiciously. It wasn't from Old Passage because it was called The Real Howler. On the cover page was a photo of a terrible accident.

"What's this?" I asked looking up at him.

"It's the story they covered in Georgia about the car crash I was in four years ago."

"Get to the point where this has to do with me." The pages ripped open in my hands and stopped on the page that continued the story. I saw a picture of his deceased parents. His mother had the same wicked smile Elliott bore at times and the same deep blue eyes. His dad had the menacing look that Nathan had along with the curls.

Just below, was a picture of a girl that looked just like me. Her brown hair was slightly shorter then mine and bangs. That was essentially the only difference. She also happened to be one of the people killed in the car crash. Under the picture, it read that her name was Lorena Perez.

"That's-"

"I thought you were Lorena when you first moved in. That she had resurrected herself or something But I soon figured out who you were."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I did, to Thalia and her friends. And then that Chaser confirmed it."

"But that was four years ago," I said. "This is now. He knew I was doppelganger now. That Chaser was like seventeen, I hardly believe he found her when he was thirteen."

"Come over," he said. "I want to show you something."

"You're not going to hold me hostage and gag me are you?"

"Only if you beg."

I chuckled and shook my head. We walked over to his front door and he let me in. The house was unbelievably quiet except for the quick thump, thump, thump coming from the kitchen.

His house was opposite mine. The kitchen and dining room were at the very end of the house while a small study was behind the staircase in the front and across was the living room.

"Nate, will you pass out candy?" Elliott called. "I'm gonna be busy for a few hours."

"Where are you going?" Nate asked appearing from the kitchen. "Oh, hey, Stevie."

"Hi," I said offering him a smile which he returned.

"No, I'll be home," Elliott told me. Nate raised an eye brow as I followed his brother up the stairs. We got to his second floor where two out of the three doors were open. He lead me to the end of the hall right in front of the bath room.

He reached over his head and grabbed a sting. He yanked it and the latch opened to reveal a ladder up the attic. He slid down the ladder and climbed up the steps. I followed.

The attic was like any other attic I've ever seen. It had boxes stacked on one another. Some had names on them to indicate what was inside. Elliott had to crouch to fit and maneuver his way inside. I took a seat and waited for him. He yanked over a dusty trunk and set it in between us. He tugged at the lock and nothing happened. He furrowed his eye brows together.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's sealed with a spell," he muttered.

"Can you open it?"

"Yeah give me a sec."

He looked at the lock as if just by locking at it the lock would cower and automatically open. He held the lock in his hand.

"_C__ataracta recludam_," I heard him say. I recognized it right away. It was Latin. He had said lock unlock. There was a faint click and the rust lock unlocked and fell off the trunk. Elliott opened it and dust flew every where. It was so thick that I couldn't see inside. Once it cleared I could see a mass collection of pocket yournals, diaries and anicent looking book dating back before my time. I picked one up.

"Grimoires?" I asked dusting it off. "You're showing me grimoires?"

"Well, I thought we could find something on doppelgangers. We should start here."

I read through journals and complete spell books but I couldn't find anything. He flipped through pages. Sometimes he'd pull out his phone and jot down spells and what they did. We didn't speak and that was okay. I don't think words needed to be said.

One my eyes got tierd of reading, I checked my phone. It was nine thirty!

"Holy crap, I need to go!" I said scrambling to the door.

"Why? What's wrong?" He got up so fast he hit his head on the ceiling. He followed me down the ladder rubbing the top of his head.

"It's nothing," I said. "Thalia and Gavin are coming over to hang for a while in about half an hour for Halloween. You can come if you'd like."

"Stevie, I'm not-"

"I swear it's not an attempt for you to join the assembly," I said quickly. "Just friends trying to be normal. Just think about it, okay?"

Before Elliott could answer me, my phone rang in my hand. I saw it was Thalia so I answered on the second ring.

"Hey," I said.

"We have a problem," was the first thing she said. "There was a Chaser at the high school."


	10. Halloween Fright

"What?" I asked alarmed. "I'm on my way."

"No, uh, we took care of the problem, well, Gavin did. We're on our way to your place now," she said.

"Does Anna know-"

"No but she's a litle shaken up. She's not sure what happened but I don't think she'll talk."

"Okay. Bye." I hung up. Elliott was eyeing me waiting for me to tell him what happened.

"A Chaser was at the school dance," I said. I stormed down the hall and he followed anxiously to the door stillrubbing his head.

"Hey, calm down," he said. He sounded a bit uncertain but it's the thought that counts I guess. He was trying to comfort me.

"How? My sister was at that dance with Sam and Nora," I walked outside into the darkness. "I'll die if anything happens to her. My parents are going to kill me!"

"I'm sure Nora and Sam took good care of her."

We got to my porch and took a seat in the frosty cold of the last day of October. We sat there for ten incrediably long minutes waiting for the others to arrive. Then I saw Gavin's and Nora's car pull along side the street. I rose when they parked in Sam's drive way.

Anna ran over into my open arms. I could feel her shaking and I made her look at me.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. "You're not hurt?"

She shook her head and went inside.

"Come on in, guys," I said. Thalia, Gavin, Sam, Nora and even Elliott came inside my house to talk. "What happened?"

"Well, I told her it was a creeper stalker who had been following me for some time," Sam said. "He just kind of attacked us on the dance floor."

Sam was dressed as a sexy nurse and beside her was Nora dressed as a black kitten. Thalia sat on the arm chair with Gavin behind her. They weren't in costume so I assumed they didn't have the time to change. Elliott stood by the door like a guard with his arms crossed.

"That's not like Chasers," Elliott said. "Not their style."

"Well, we have this Chaser locked in the abandoned house," Gavin said. "I'lll go there and interraogate."

"I'll go too," Thalia said.

"No," Gavin said sharply.

"Guys, why do we have to do this right away?" Nora asked rising to her feet. "We could always to it tomorw morning. I'm tierd from the dance."

"Right and give him the chance to escape?" I asked. "I think we should all go. Now."

"Yeah," Sam agreed.

"Let's go," Thalia said rising. We all ran over in the night to the house visible from my kitchen. We came to a stop and followed Gavin down to the basement. There tied to a chair was a boy not much older then Anna. He looked dirty and covered in sweat from a fight.

He jerked violently in his chair as we approached. I jumped back bumping into Nora on accident. She scowled and moved closer to get a better look at the Chaser.

"Why have Chasers been coming to Old Passage?" Thalia asked.

"Rot in hell," he muttered darkly.

Gavin lunged forward and grabbed him by the collar. He raised a fist to hit him but Thalia pleaded for him not to and to calm down.

"We need him in one piece," she said. Gavin let him go slowly and took a step back. He wrapped his arm around Thalia's waist protectively

"We just want to know who sent you," I said.

"You won't get it out of me."

"Elliott, Gavin I need you to hold him down for a second," Thalia said.

Gavin and Elliott moved forward and the Chaser soon began to struggle in their arms. He did everything he possibly could but nothing. Thalia strode forward in front of the Chaser. Sam, Nora and i gathered together trying to see what was going to happen.

She set her palm on his forehead. He tried harder then ever to try and get her touch away from him. Gavin punched once in the stomach and he went limp for a few seconds.

"Gavin!" Thalia scolded her eyes closing.

"What? I had to get him to stop moving."

"Do you see anything?" Nora asked.

"I don't see a—wait!"

Her eyes flew open staring off into into space with her mouth parted slightly. Her eyes looked glassy like one of those China dolls.

"What do you see?" Gavin asked.

"I see a U table and five seats," Thalia said. Her voice was distant as if talking to someone in a dream. It was really strange. I had never seen her getting a vision before. "I think it's an assembly or something, I can't tell."

"Consider yourself marked," the Chaser growled. "The Five will hunt you down each and every one of you, one by one."

Thalia snatched her hand away and looked worried. She took a step back. The guys let him go and backed away. We were about to leave and Gavin went back and punched once more right across the face. The guy was knocked out.

"Gavin!" we girls gasped.

"At least we know he'll be out for a few hours," Gavin said stretching his knuckles and looking down at the Chaser. "He ain't going no where." Elliott smiled a little. We all left the house and headed back cutting through the field.

"I'll come back tomorow to set things straight with him," Gavin told us just as Anna came out to the porch. We nodded in approval. Gavin and Thalia left in his car. Sam and Nora waved good bye to my sister. They walked away from us. A few steps away I saw Nora glanced over her shoulder but continued walking.

"So this is what you had in mind?" Elliott asked quietly so only I could hear.

"No," I said with a smirk. "You just happen to decided to hang out with us on the wrong day."

"I'll continue to look through the journals, you can stop by tomorrow or when ever you have time," he told me.

"Thanks," I said. I walked over to Anna and we went back inside the house just as my parents pulled in the drive way. We scurried up to our rooms and shut the doors. I had never been so happy to have my parents home, that way Anna couldn't ask me any questions about what happened tonight. I didn't come out of my room for the rest of the night.


	11. Complicated

I headed back to school and work the nex day. It seemed kind of odd to go to work and school when some one out there was plotting our deaths. I felt like I was leading some kind of double life. And I felt horrible not telling Anna anything. I usually tell her everything but I couldn't tell her this. The less she knew, the better.

But she became distant from me too. I'd see her talk to Elliott on occasion. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't say anything. Gavin didn't tell me what he did to that Chaser and I didn't pressure for him to tell me.

Thalia started to do some research on these so called Five. Since I was still doing my research in Elliott's grimoires I tried to look for something on the Five. Elliott continued on to help me. It wasn't until mid November we found something.

"Hey, look at this," Elliott said. "I found something." He scouted over closer to me. He handed me the book. He pointed to the spot he wanted me to look at. It was a small passage about a a human tracker spell.

"This is it," I said excitedly. "I can't believe it. It'll lead us right to my doppelganger, if she's alive, right? You think Nate can perform the spell?"

"Nate?" Elliott asked confused.

"Well, yeah."

"I can do it, easy."

"I thought you weren't going to help me when it comes to magic?"

"Just this once, Kendall." I beamed in gratitude. He said he'd have time right before winter break to do the spell.

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving anyway?" I asked as we trotted down the stairs.

"Probably just be me and my brother," Elliott said with a shrug. "You?"

"I dunno, I think my mom's relatives may come over," I said. "It'll be boring. I invited everyone else over. You can come too."

"Right and have another Chaser show up?" he joked.

"Only if you invite him in," I said as we got to the door. "I'm sure Anna would want you there."

"Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint Anna now, would I?"

I walked over to my house feeling quite happy. I'd be able to know where my double was. Sure, that Lorena girl and I could be doppelgangers but I felt like she wasn't the only one in the world that looked like me. There had to be another one out there.

This time Anna didn't drag me to go shopping with her. She went with Sam instead. In that case Thalia, Nora and I went shopping for something to wear for Thanksgiving. Thalia picked a beige dress with a brown belt. Nora bought herself a sphagetti strap black dress. I ended up picking a light orange dress with a dark brown belt around my middle.

"Do you know what's wrong with my sister?" I asked them.

"Ooh, now you're telling me it's okay to pry?" Nora asked turning to look at me in the backseat. She wrinkled her nose at me.

"Well, she doesn't want to talk to me," I said.

"She's mad," Nora said.

"I haven't done anything to her."

"You're spending all this time with Elliott. She's jealous," Nora said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I felt a little upset that Nora knew about this and I didn't. I'm her freaking sister, didn't that count for something?

Thalia dropped me off at home and both girls promised to drop by for Thanksgiving. I walked into my house and raced up stairs.

I set my bags in my room and raced back down the stairs to see what was for dinner. Both my parents were in the kitchen cooking together and talking about something because they both stopped talking.

"What were you guys talking about?" I asked.

"Nothing," they said together.

"Alright, then, what's for dinner?" I asked striding over to the stove and raised the lid of one of the pots. A wonderful odor rose from it and I could feel myself get light headed from the delicious smell inside.

"Just set up the table," Dad told me. I didn't question him and did as I was told.

"Do you plan on going Black Friday shopping?" Mom asked casually. My parents really were acting strange. Did they know something was wrong with Anna too? Or did they know about me being a doppelganger to who knows who?

"No, I have to work," I said. "Why do I have a feeling you guys aren't telling me something?"

"Well, we're worried about you," Mom said as I walked back to the kitchen for the plates.

"Why?" I asked completely surprsied. This was an odd turn of events.

"You've been spending most of your time with that neighbor boy, we hardly see you," Dad said taking over.

"It's complicated," I said. Anna came down the stairs.

"It's much too complicated," she said. "That's why she won't even tell me anything."

I glared at her. What the hell was her problem? She was never one to side with my parents and now here she was siding with them.

"You just wouldn't understand," I mumbled. I left them there. I don't know what possesed me to leave my house but I did. It was raining now and I could feel the cold rain hit my hair and forehead. I hadn't thought about bringing my keys so I went to the place where I knew Anna or my parents couldn't find me, to the abandonded house.

I ran over to the house soaking wet and I was shivering furiously.

"Stevie!" Sam was just coming out of the house still relatively dry. She waved me in and I hurried forward. I could hear the rain thumping on the wooden boeards above. We went down to the basement where it was humid and warm.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"Thalia asked me to do some research about the Five and this is the place I can really think in," she said. She pulled out her lap top. I was surprised she had service out here but I didn't ask questions. I learned not to ask questions with minor things.

"Did you find anything?" I asked.

"Not anything useful," she said with a shrug. "What were you running from?"

"I needed to get out of my house."

"Well, it's freezing, you should come back to my place."

I agreed and we headed back to her house in the rain. Her parents weren't home so she offered me her shower and I accpeted. I walked into her room with some of her old clothes. She was still doing research on the Five. I sat down beside her and looked at the screen.

"Thalia's doing her research too," she told me. "We need to figure out who these Five are."

I gave anod. She was right. If who knows what was coming after us we would need to be ready and able to survive. Everyone was frightened and the more we knew the better. I thanked her and headed home. I made a dash across the street and up to my room before anyone could notice.


	12. Truth or Dare

Mom enlisted Anna and I to help her out with today's festivities. She was banging my door around six in the morning. Her relatives were coming so obviously she was under a lot of pressure. Anna was on kitchen duty with her while I cleaned the house to make it look like it was spotless on a day to day basis.

Around one o'clock, mom let us go to get ready for the company. Anna made it to the bathroom before me. I went into my room to clean that too just in case my relatives decided to spend the night or something. I spotted Elliott on his bed listening to music. He didn't spot me but I quickly looked away before I gave him the chance to.

Some time later, I heard Anna shut the door to her room and it was my turn to take a shower. I took my clothes and hurried into the bathroom before my mom or dad could beat me in there. I took a shower and changed into the dress I had bought. I blow dried my hair and went over it once with the straightener to make sure my hair was perfectly straight.

I walked over to my room. It was already two. I heard the doorbell.

"Stevie," Mom hollered from her room. "Get the door."

Still barefoot, I flew down the stairs and went to open the door. It was my mom's sisters and my little cousins. I let them in. They gushed on how much I've grown. I smiled politely and ushered them into the living room. I made small talk in the mean time that my mom would desend the stairs and I was let free. I huried back up the stairs.

"Mom's sisters are here," I said walking over to Anna room's. She was just about ready. She wore a black and white dress with heels.

"Cool, I guess," she said walking past me and down the hall. I went to my room and put on some flats. I walked back down stairs and I noticed my uncle was here and some of my older cousins around my age. It wasn't until five that my friends came over. Sam and Nora were the first to arrive.

"I hope we're not too late," Sam said stepping inside. "Someone wasn't interested in coming." She looked at Nora reproachfully. I lead them into the kitchen were my three cousins and uncle were hanging out with Anna. Sadly, my three cousins were guys in their late teens and they were instantly gravitating to Sam.

"We're probably going to have to eat in here, it's packed in the dinning room," I said.

"That's okay," Nora said her focus on my cousin Devon. We talked a while before my mom called us over to eat and just as she did Thalia and Gavin arrived.

"Sorry, we had to go to my party," Thalia said. "We can only stay for dinner and maybe desert before we go to Gavin's house." Gavin smiled apologetically. Either way I was thrilled to have them.

Dinner was okay if you count the death glares Anna gave me throughout from across the island we all surrownded. It was really irking me.

"Everything cool?" Gavin asked leaning toward me. His arms were still around Thalia but he made sure it was close enough for only me to hear.

"Anna has been giving me attitude all day," I whispered. "You'd think I ripped apart her favorite shirt or something." He glanced over at Anna sitting beside Nora and Devon who were talking, well, flirting.

"She'll get over it," he said. "Thalia said she would."

I couldn't ague with that logic. We finished eating and set the paper plates in the garbage. I saw Anna get up and leave the room. A few seconds later she returned with a bottle of my Dad's tequila and a few shot glasses.

"Oooh, now this is a party," Nora said with the wicked smile of hers.

"It's for Truth or Dare, calm down," Anna laughed. She handed us each a shot glass. "You pick dare and you get one. You pick truth and you get a shot along side telling us the resposne." We all agreed to her condition to the game.

My cousin Randy started off by asking Sam truth or dare. Sam thought about it for a good second and said truth with a shot. I chuckled. The girl had balls, I gave her that. Randy was never one to go around the bushes.

"Virgin?" he asked.

"Randy!" I snapped.

"Yes." She scanned the table and her eyes fell on Nora. I saw a smile creep in her beautiful featues. The door bell rang and I got up to get the door. The last thing I heard was. "Nora, truth or dare."

"Dare."

I opened the door to see Elliott and Nate. Both of them were dressed up pretty well and they each held trays of dessert one of orange Jell-o and the other of chocolate pudding. I stepped aside and let them in.

"I'm glad you could make it," I said with a smile. I took Nate's tray and showed him to where the adults were talking Elliott followed me into the kitchen. I saw Nora lip locked with Devon. I shook my head and set the tray on the counter and Elliott handed me the other.

"Really Nora?" I asked. I took off the lid to see the Jell-o already sliced and diced.

She pulled away and went back to her seat. "It was a dare," she said with a smile. She didn't even think about who she was going to pick for the next round. I walked over to the fridge and set the try inside to keep the Jell-o cool.

"Anna, truth or dare?"

Anna responded by drinking her shot and clinking it on the counter top. Surprised, Nora thought about her question. I walked over to my place between Gavin and Elliott who thought was an open space I guess. Finally, Nora said something.

"Is there some place else you'd rather be?"

Anna thought about it for a second and glanced around the room. Her hazel eyes landed on me briefly and moed on to linger on Elliott a fraction of a second longer and her gaze finally looked down at her own hands.

"Yeah, I would." She paused before continuing. "Elliott, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Elliott said lazily anticipating some sort of childish dare. With out thinking, Anna responded.

"I dare you to kiss the prettiest girl in this room."

I could feel my heart ponding in my ears. I knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to prove a point to me. One I was hoping that would not be proven.

"Are we counting Thalia in this?" Elliott asked who still hadn't moved.

"Don't even think about it, Ames," Gavin said beside me. I saw my mom poke her head in to see what we were doing. I hurried forward to let her know we were just playing a game.

"And are we talking about a little peck or-"

"As long it shows how you really feel."

I strode over back to my spot. And then my worst fears were confirmed at that very moment. It was also the moment I knew Anna was looking for. Elliott pulled me close to him with one arm and prseed his lips to mine. I tried to push myself away but he only kissed me harder until I kissed him back and my arms were no longer fighting him.

I heard my cousins laugh and Nora gasp in a mixture of surprise and anger. I could practically see Sam blush even though she wasn't the one in this predicamint. Gavin gave out an 'oh' and Thalia giggled.

He pulled away leaving me breathless. He looked down at me and I could feel my eyes water out of anger. Anna tore out of the room. That was the fastest I've seen her move in a long time.

"Anna!" I said slipping away from Elliott's grip. He tried holding me back but I turned to look at him.

"Let me go!" I said trying to sound as angry as I felt. He let me go.

I followed Anna with out glancing at the others. I raced up the stairs just in time to hear the door slam to her room. I came to a stop at her door and knocked. Sam and Thalia had followed me.

"Anna!" I called.

No response.

"She did kind of bring this on herself," Sam said quietly.

Thalia and I glared at her. "Not helping."

"I'll go talk to her," Sam said. I raised an eye brow. "I promise to be nice." She knocked on the door. "I think it's better if you let her cool down."

"Go away!" Anna called from inside.

"It's me," Sam said. "Can I come in?" Sam shooed me away with her hands. Thalia and I walked down the stairs just as Anna opened the door for Sam. She and I returned to the kitchen. Everyone was just where they were still talking and such.

Gavin and Thalia excused themselves and I walked them to the front door. Nora had gone up stairs to check on Sam and Anna. When I returned to the kitchen, it was only Elliott running his finger on the shot glass.

"Is she alright?" Elliott asked. He really did look concerned but he made my sister upset. I wasn't about to be kind to him.

"No, thanks to you," I said bitterly.

"Me? She dared me and I went through with it," he said annoyed.

"You weren't supposed to kiss me!"

"So, I was supposed to lie?"

"That would have been the optimal thing to do. Hasn't it occured to you that Anna likes you? She hasn't spoken to me for days because she thinks there's something going on between us."

"But there isn't."

"Great way to prove it don't you think?"

We were both quiet for a couple minutes. I put all the empty shot glasses in the sink and dumped all the tequila down the drain. I wasn't in any particular mood to humor him tonight. I heard him walk out of the kitchen. There was no way I was going to live this down.


	13. The Mark

The next day Thalia and I had a chance to talk during work. She was telling me that she had another vision last night about the Five.

"They're mythical creature slayers," she said as we waited for the cook to have our orders ready. "We're the only known assembly in the northern hemisphere. They think we impose a threat for bonding together."

"What?" I asked. "That's ridiculous."

"I know but their hearts are already set on destroying us."

"So what are we going to do?" I asked.

"We're going to do what we have to do to survive," she said. I felt goose bumps go up and down my back. I was afriad of what that meant and what we would soon be facing. I shook the idea out of my head. I knew she felt uncomrtable too because she changed the subject.

"Well, yesterday was interesting," she said.

"Don't remind me," I mumbled. "Anna is beyond pissed at me. You know it's not even my fault."

"Are you sure nothing's going on with you and Elliott?" she asked put the plates on her tray.

"He's made it pretty clear he isn't boyfriend material," I told her doing the same. We went to our tables and handed everyone thier meals. I flashed them a smile and asked if everything was fine. With full mouths, they nodded.

I walked back to the bar where Thalia was wiping off her tray.

"Maybe he's not boyfriend material for Anna-"

"Much less me."

Another costumer came into the diner and I walked over with a coffe mug because I knew he was a regular: coffe, then an order of tomattoo soup with a side salad.

It got prety full around noon and it continued like that for the rest of the day. People had come here after their Christmas shopping. I had never seen so many people of Old Passage at once. Thalia and I were too busy to talk again for the rest of the evening. But our shift ended together so we walked out of the packed diner around eight.

"That was an insane shift," I said. I was exhausted. I was ready to knock out for the rest of the night.

"Happens every year," Thalia said. She stopped walking and I did too. I knew why she stopped I heard something coming from behind us. If I was hearing correct, it was a growl. A low menicing growl. I turned to see a large dog who resembled more of a coyote. His yellow eyes were gleaming at us hungrily.

"Run!" Thalia shouted. We ran out of the parking lot. He caught up with us in no problem and she and I seperated. What the hell was I supposed to do? I didn't have any ability and hers weren't exactly going to do us much use. I noticed the thing wasn't after me, it was after Thalia.

I stopped in my tracks and followed them. I heard Thalia yelp. When I finally reached them they were in the next parking lot. The coyote was on top of her trying to bite her throat.

I grabbed gravel from under my feet and threw it at the large dog so it would get off her. It barked at me angrily and looked down at Thalia. My mind was spinning, what do I? What the hell do I do?

Then out of no where, Gavin appeared and tackled the dog away from Thalia. She got ot her feet and I hurried forward.

"How did he find us?" I asked her.

"He's my daemons," she said simply. The dog wrestled with Gavin but Gavin was much stronger. The coyote wimpered under Gavin's weight. It snarled and barked but Gavin wouldn't let it move.

"Guys, look at this," Gavin called out to us. Thalia and I stepped forward catiously. Gavin was raising it's large paw and right on the paw was a symbol. It looked like a side ways 'S' with an orb on each end. I had seen that sign before. It was in one of Elliott's grimoires in his attic.

"I've seen it before," I said. "It's in Elliott's grimoires. I don't remember what it said but I know it's there."

"Fine, then we'll talk to him tomorow morning," Thalia said. "Just get rid of that coyote."

"Go," Gavin told us. "I'll get rid of it. I'll catch up with you later." They kissed and we walked back to the diner. I could see the light of the inside of the place.

"He's not going to kill it?" I asked. "Is he?"

Thalia thought about it for a second. She looked a bit shaken up about it and slightly paler than usual. I looped my arm around her and set my head on her shoulder.

"He drains them of their life," she said softly.

The next day I slept in until a small spot of sun peeked into my room. I checked my phone and saw I had a few messages. It was from Sam and Gavin asking if I was okay. I answered and told them I was fine. I sat up and stretched widely.

I hopped on out of bed as I smelled the wonderful scent of pancakes. I caught a glimpse of Elliott in his room. He was staring over here. I walked over.

I saw him mouth out three words: Are you okay? I'm guessing he heard about yesterday just as Sam did. I nodded. He did look worried about me but I had to remember to be mad at him. I saw him look over my shoulder and I turned. It was Anna.

"Anna, he was just asking how I was," I said quickly.

"And why would he do that?" she asked coldly.

"Because Thalia and I were attacked yesterday."

Her eyes softened a little and she stepped into my room. "Really?" I nodded.

"Look, I want to get this whole thing straight," I said. "This whole Elliott-you-me thing. I don't like him and he doesn't like me." I sure hoped I was right.

"Or me."

"I know," I said gently. "We're friends and that's all." She sighed and sat on my bed.

"I don't know why I like him so much," she admitted. "It's just every day that goes by I feel attracted to him more and more." I automatically felt bad having such a good friendship with Elliott. If I wasn't such good friends with him, she wouldn't be feeling this way.

"I would never want to hurt you and much less on purpose," I told her.

"I know."

I got up and we wnt down the stairs to have breakfast. I felt like a ton of bricks have been lifted from my shoulders. I was finally back in her good graces. I wanted to keep it that way even though I couldn't tell her all the strange things that were going on, no matter how badly I wanted to. She was safest out of this mess.


	14. Under the Roof

After I had breakfast and did some chores, there was a knock at the front door. I hurried forward and saw Thalia and Gavin on my porch. I shut the door behind me and we walked next door to Elliot's house. He let us in and lead us to his living room. He had brought down the trunk and was already looking through the grimoires.

"I've been looking through the books," he told us. "And I can't seem to find it."

"Let me check," I said. We all gathered around and flipped through pages. It was few minutes of silence before Thalia found the page.

"Aha!" she said happily. "There it is."

"What does it say?" Gavin asked as we circled around her.

" 'Mark of the beasts for they represent the masters they serve who purify the earth.' Well that makes a lot of sense," Thalia said throwing her hands in the air.

"Of course it does," I said quickly. "The Five."

"Alright this means we're not dealing with the Five yet?" Elliott asked.

"Doesn't sound like it," Gavin said slowly. "We're dealing with their pets." I thought about it for a second to let it process. They were sending beasts? I didn't like that idea at all.

"Then I'm useless," I said. "If I don't have my double with me I'm like half a person, half my strength."

"You think?" Thalia asked curiously.

"Elliott said I'm teethered to this person, right?" I looked around at them all. "If they're here it'll help us out, don't you think?"

Gavin looked thoughtful but didn't say anything. Thalia looked unsure and slightly confused. Elliott looked serious and kind of convinced at my words.

"It's worth a shot," Gavin said slowly. "But how are we going to be able to find this person? She could be in Amsterdam or Beijing."

"I'm in charge of that," Elliott said. "We found a human locator spell. We haven't used it yet but we will. It should be pretty easy to find her if I'm right."

"Just do it soon," Thalia said. We spent another hour looking through the grimoires to see if it mentioned anything about masters or purification. Eventually they had to go so it was only Elliott and I. It had been only yesterday when we were alone and I was okay then. Now I felt uncomfortable and I didn't want to sit around until we got onto the subject that I didn't want to talk about.

"Let's do the spell," I said out loud.

"Now?"

"Now."

He ran a hand through his dark blonde hair and pressed his lips together thinking deeply. He picked the book with the spell in it and flipped right to it.

"Meet me by the abandoned house in five minutes," he finally said. I nodded and hurried out of his house and hurried along to my house. I hurried up to my room and threw aside my jacket for a sweater. Anna wasn't home, she was off hanging with Sam and Nora.

"I'm going out for a while," I said. "Be back soon." I left the house before a response was made from my parents. I returned out to the bitter cold. The wind whipped my hair back. I trudged over to the house. As I got there, I heard rustling coming from downstairs so I followed the noise.

I saw Elliott setting up for the spell. There were a dozen candles around the room. And on the table was a large blank piece of paper, his grimoire and a sharp blade. I stepped forward and he looked up.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you're trying to seduce me," I teased.

"I had to lure you out here some how," he said with his signiture wicked smile that I've grown used to seeing.

He walked over to the table and I stood opposite him. The candles lit up. His eyes were focused on the blank paper. I wondered what he was looking at. He glanced at the grimoire.

"Give me your hand," Elliott muttered. I reached over to him. He took off my glove and rolled up my sleeve. He tapped the paper and ink started to appear. It was an ancient world map like something Christopher Columbus would have used. The writting was in a scrpit I could barely make out. I figured it was something passed down in his family. I looked up at him confused. "This'll only hurt a second, I'll try and stop the pain, okay?"

"Okay," I said watching him raise the blade. He made a long deep cut. It hurt for a fraction of a second and then it stopped. Elliott squeezed my hand and blood trickled down onto the paper. I expected it to sink and spread but it didn't. It pooled and gathered together.

He started chanting and I couldn't make out what he was saying. My blood trailed from the Pacific Ocean onto the United States. With his free hand, he tapped the paper and it zomed in solely on the United States. We continued to watch my blood inch closer and closer toward the other side of the country. It stopped around Atlanta and made it's way up. It went past Virgina, New York and New Hampshire. It stopped in Maine.

Elliott and I looked at eachother. I could feel my heart pounding. Elliott tapped it once more and it zomed in once more to Maine. My blood began to thin and land some where in the state. Tap, tap. The map zoomed in to Old Passage and I soon began to recognize streets. My blood raced toward my street and over to my house.

"Can you zoom in again?" I asked.

Elliott tapped it once more but nothing happened. That's all it would allow.

"Who's at your house right now?" Elliott asked. The ink faded only to leave my blood on a blank piece of paper. The candles blew to indicate the magic was over.

"I don't know, my parents," I said.

"Let's see get you cleaned up and go check it out," he said. I nodded. I circled the table to take a seat on an old chair. He kneeled on the cold ground and gently cleaned up the blood on my hand. Once the wound was clean, he muttered another spell and the cut faded into a two inch thin scar.

"Better?" he asked looking up at me as he rolled down my sleeve.

"Yeah, thanks," I said. "Really, thanks for doing the spell." He stood up and helped me up to my feet. He looked down at me and I refused to look up at him. I just kept on staring at his chest. No matter how cool I played it, my mind was already panicing. He's not going to kiss me, he's not going to kiss me. Why would he kiss me? He doesn't want to kiss me. Oh God!

His fingers touched my cheek and made me look up at him. His eyes were intense because I knew he was fighting it too. His eyes searched mine like I had some answeres he was looing for. He placed both hands on either side of my face. He leaned in staring at my lips. I didn't move, I was far too afraid to. We kissed and I could feel everything in me jolt in awareness. I felt my pulse quicken and a spark bounce within me like a bolt of lightening.

I pulled away feeling a little relieved that tension was over. Elliott and I stared at eachother for a while before saying something. He leaned in to kiss me one more time."We need to go check my house to see who's home," I told him feeling my lips brush against his. He looked down at me and let me go.

He gathered his things and we hurried back to my house together. We rushed in and I called out to see who was home.

"Mom, Dad!" I called out into the living room. "Is anyone home?"

"Hey, up here!" Anna called up stairs from her room. I glanced at Elliott alarmed. His eye brows drew together in concern, we both understood, my own sister was the doppelganger.

Elliott and I went into the living room to talk so Anna wouldn't hear us.

"This is great," Elliott said. "We had your double right here in front of us and we didn't even know it. I've never heard of doppelgangers in a family before, ever. Could be one in a million."

"That's why I couldn't feel the teethered bond, I thought it was just a regular sister bond," I said. "I can't tell her, I don't know how."

"Well, you said you two together could act as a whole," he pointed out.

"I'll find the right time to tell her," I said. "She already suspects us as it is."

"Fine," he said with nod. "I'll talk to you later then." He stood up to leave. He came over to me chewing the inside of his cheek. I stared down at my shoes. He walked passed me and I heard the door slam a few seconds later.

I had all sorts of emotions running around. I felt guilty for kissing Elliott again, worried because of Anna being my double, and worst of all like a traitor to myself, I wanted so badly to believve that I didn't like him. But who was I kidding, not myself not any more, obviously.

I went up stairs. Anna was in hers watching TV. I walked over to her room. She lay on her bed painting her nails. She had her hair straight like mine today. I sat on her and gazed at the television.

"Did Elliott leave already?" she asked me.

"Yeah, he did," I said.

"Listen, Anna-"

"I wanted to talk to you, Steves. I feel like I've been a little selfish with you and Elliott. It's obvious he likes you and I have no way in hell of a chance with him," she said sincerely. "I just want you to be happy."

I smiled slightly at her kind words.

"I don't know what I want, Anna and that's the truth."


	15. The Unlikely

When karma has it in for you, you don't know what you're up against. And in my case karma liked acting quickly and it made me eat my words that same night. You don't know how angry I was. I guess I'm the only one to blame. Oh and Elliott, it's always Elliott's fault.

That night I finished all my homework and took a quick shower so I could go to school tomorow and then right off to work with Thalia. I stepped into my room and almost screamed when I saw someone laying on my bed. I shut the door behind me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked in a hushed voice so Anna wouldn't hear thgough the wall. Elliott was laying on my bed as if it were his own. I rushed over to my window and shut it to stop the cold air from coming into my room. I managed to see his window open and I knew he had snuck over. "My parents will flip out if I have you over at these hours. Go!"

"I can't stop thinking about you."

"Why must you torture me like this?" I was speaking more to myself then Elliott right about now. Not only was it a surprise that he said it, I didn't want him to continue on .

He sat up to look at me. His eyes were a deep blue like a dark ocean before a storm. I knew they were intense just trying to figure out the right words to say. He go to his feet and stode over to me. He pulled me close and kissed me. I felt the familiar sense of pleasure of earlier on today. I pulled away a few second later.

"I want this to be serious," I told him.

"And you think I don't?" he asked sounding annoyed, his blue eyes flashed dangerously. "You think I'm afraid of being in a committed relationship or something?"

"Right because Old Passage doesn't know your name already."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Shut up, like half of the girls here don't have your number," I accused trying to break free from his arms. I pushed him back but he only held me tighter. "And you're an ass. Flipping me off through your window."

"And your sarcasm?" he asked.

"You're a dick."

"Sounds like you're facinated with me."

"I'm not playing with you, Ames."

"So, now I'm Ames? You've been hanging around Gavin too much," Elliott said a coy smile forming

"I'm serious!"

"So am I."

Elliott himself as a boyfriend didn't feel much different then being his neighbor. He was still the cocky jerk I thought he was except he had moments when he acted like a boyfriend and let me tell you that's rare. I always felt like his eye were on me, like he was still trying to figure me out.

The rest of the assembly were generally okay with us. Elliott still refused to join them and to avoid any major fights, I didn't pressure him. I didn't see the harm. Sam, Thalia and Gavin were geniunely happy for me. Then there was Nora. She wasn't exactly thrilled because of her old crush on him a few years back. I didn't blame her for being resentful.

"Have you told Anna yet?" Nora asked me as she, Thalia and I did homework during our free time in the caf.

"About me and Elliott or about her being my double?" I asked.

"Both."

"I think a mythical slayers out weighs ordinary love life drama," Thalia cut in.

"I'll tell her tonight," I muttered.

I headed off to class and then a brief lunch before I went to work for a few hours before Anna had left school. I drove home to drop off my things. I found Elliott on the porch waiting for me. I walked over and he stood. He took the books out of my hands and kissed my cheek.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "It's freezing out here." I unlocked the door and we went inside.

"I had to see you before I go through a hard core session of studying," he said. We went up the stairs to my room. He set my book on my desk and sat on my bed. I rummaged through my closet looking for a scarf and hat.

"I have to go pick up Anna, we're going Christmas shopping," I said swinging my bag over my shoulder and wrapping my scarf around my neck.

"Oh yeah?" he asked. I could hear the familiar drone of his voice preparing for a smart ass remark. We trotted down the stairs. "Anything for me?"

"Yeah, a couple of crucifixes and garlic wrapped up a big red box," I retorted.

"Good thing I'm not that Cullen guy, huh?"

We got to the last step. I opened the door and we walked out into the cold again. Fluries had begun to fly with the wind. I laughed at his remark.

"You mean Edward?"

"No, the big muscular one."

I snorted in return and he walked me to my car. I hopped inside and the window rolled down. He leaned on the car as the radio played softly in the back round.

"Careful, out there the road may be slippery," he told me. I nodded. He stood up straight and my window rolled up to block the cold. I peeled out the drive way and went to the high school just as they were being let out. Anna raced out happily and climbed into the passanger seat.

"Hey, how was school?" I asked her.

"Fine, I guess," she said. "I'm going to try out for the tennis team this spring. What do you think?"

"Sounds great," I said with a smile. I listened to what she was getting and for who. Mom, a coat; Dad, a pair of running shoes; Sam, these earing and Nora some kind of shoes that she's been wanting. She named off a few other kids I didn't know but I suggested some items.

I had a pretty big load to buy for people this Christmas: the assembly, my family and Elliott. I came prepared and had a list that was within my budget. Once we got to the mall, we seperated as we didn't want to know what we were getting each other.

I scouted off to a couple department store to buy some articles of clothing for the girls. A shirt for Nora, a pair of jeans for Sam and a perfume for Thalia. I got Gavin a pair of slippers. My mom got a necklace and my dad got this massage contraption for his neck. Then I headed to a shoe store to buy Anna these boots she was dying to have. Then there was the concept of a gift for Elliott. I had to take a few days to figure out what to give him. Do you know how hard it is to find a sarcastic boyfriend a present? It's antagonizing!

"Tell me, what do you want for a gift?" I asked as Elliott and I walked on to campus. I had my arm looped around his just in case my fantastic walking skills decided to fail me under this ice trap.

"Well, I have a few ideas-" he said a devilish smile forming.

I laughed. "Forget I asked."

"I'm the one who should be asking you that. I have to buy you a Christmas present and a birthday present."

"I don't care what you get me," I said as we crossed the parking lot and hurried on inside. "At least you thought about getting me something."

It was his turn to laugh. "You really have no expectations of me, do you?"

"None."

He thought about it for a second. We walked inside the building and I instantly felt the warm air hit my cheeks. I took off my hat and shoved it in my pocket. We got to the caf and that's where we were going to seperate. He was going to work and I would head to class. He stopped walking and I did too. He turned to face me and pressed his lips to mine.

"I just want you all to myself," he said. "Is that a decent answer?"


	16. Easy to Top

I'd feel guilty if I didn't get him anything so I decided to get him a leather jacket. He already had one but another couldn't hurt. I met back up with Anna by the front of the mall. She raised an eye brow when I set my bags on the ground.

"Santa has to do his part too, Steves," she said. She had fewer bags then me but I bet it looked like I bought half of the department store. We left the building and went to find my car in the dark. We packed up and headed home.

"I debated if I should get Elliott something," Anna said catiously as she gazed out the window.

"Oh?" I asked. I had my suspicions now that we knew she was my doppelganger. I liked Elliott, did that mean she liked him because of me. And I still haven't told her about us and what she really was to me.

We drove home with the radio up and Anna sang along to what ever catchy tune came on. I turned onto the lonely road and I could see the sign that read 'Welcome to Old Passage.' The car did a horrible jolt and I skid to a stop.

"What was that?" Anna asked.

"I dunno," I said parking the car. I got out into the empty lane. I hurried over to the back and I saw nothing, not even a trail of blood or something. I checked on my wheels and everything seemed fine there too. I guessed it to be a rock or a leveling in the street.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah!" I shot back. But then I heard it. It was some sort of rattling and a hissing sound. It was a large snake coming from the road. I could see it dimly in the red light of my car. And I barely made the trace of the Five's crest on it's head. It lunged at me and I jumped back to close the door. It hissed at me angrily. It lunged once more and I hopped onto the hood of the car.

Anna opened the door and stepped out.

"What's going on?" she asked her eye brows together in concern.

"Anna get back in the car, there's a snake out here."

"A snake!" I didn't need to tell her twice. She hopped into the car. The snake circled around the car popping all my tires on it's way. It was freezing out here, my teeth were chattering and my fingers were starting to get numb. What do I do? I wasn't skilled at this whole doppelganger thing and Anna-

I'd lure it away. That was my only chance so Anna could call for help. Once the snake was over by the back I hopped off and took off running. The snake must have followed because I heard Anna call out.

"Stevie!"

"Call Gavin!" I shouted. I turned around to face the snake. I was alert with everything around me. But that wasn't the only thing I was aware of, I was aware of Anna's presence and I could feel something run through me. It wasn't power, that's not the right word. I could hear what she was hearing and I bet I could see what she was seeing if I tried. The snake lunged forward and I dodged it to the right. With my luck, I tripped on some ice and hit the ground.

A car light was coming in my direction and the snake hissed angrily. I squinted to see a truck coming my way. Before it was cut, Thalia and Gavin stepped out only to have the snake hiss at them. Gavin stepped forward to grab it but it backed away.

"Gavin, be careful!" Thalia said anxiously. Anna came forward looking concerned.

"Anna, get back!" I demanded. The snake looked to where I was looking. It seemed confused as it did a double take and looked over from Anna to me. It gave Gavin enough time to come forward and wrap his hands around it. I saw Gavin's eye flash gray as he began to drain the life out of the serpant.

Thalia hurried forward and helped me up to my feet.

"I had a vision," she said. "Good thing we got here just in time."

"Yeah, thanks, I wasn't sure how long I'd hold it off."

"I called Nora so she could come pick you guys up," Gavin said coming forward.

"What about my car?" I asked.

"I have a friend who could lend me a few spare tires. I'll have it in your drive way by morning," Gain said. A second and third car pulled up. It was Nora in her car and Elliott and Sam in the other.

"Hey, are you guys alright?" Sam asked.

"I wanna know what the hell just happened," Anna demanded. "Everyone seems to know but me. Stevie?"

"Anna, I've been meaning to tell you, I really have," I began.

"Just tell her," Nora grumbled.

"Anna, you're my doppelganger."

"A doppel-what?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes at me.

"A doppelganger, a double of a person kind of like a shadow. It's a mythical creature in some cultures," Gavin explained. I was glad Gavin was explaining this to her, he was better at this then me. Anna still looked confused.

"But we don't look a like," Anna protested.

"Anna, we do look like you just choose to dress, act, think differently then me," I told her. "I had a hard time believing it too but evey time you straighten your hair or if I curl mine. The only real difference is our eyes."

She didn't say anything right away. She looked away almost as if she was ashamed.

"Can-can we go home?" she asked. Gavin and Eliott exchanged words about my car and they agreed on taking it Elliott's house so he could put on the spare tires. We all piled into our cars and headed home. Anna and I hopped into Elliott's car with Sam. Anna didn't say anything and neither did we.

We had parked my car in his drive way and spilled out of his car.

"If you need anything, you know where I'll be," Sam said her cheeks getting pink from standing in the cold.

"Yeah and thanks for coming," I said. She came forward and gave a me a tight hug. She looked over at Anna concerned and walked back to her house. A couple minutes went by and the three of us stood out in the cold.

"I can have it set in a few minutes once the tires are here," Elliott said. "I could use a few spells to make it quicker." Anna glanced over at us skeptically when Elliott mentioned spells. Gavin's truck peeled onto the street and parked in front of Elliott's house. He rolled the wheels over.

"Thanks," I said with a faint smile. "Really."

"Don't sweat it," he said. "Think of it as an early Christmas present."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. He hopped back in his truck and drve off. I turned to see Elliott and Anna. The car hovered on his drive way a few feet above the ground. I heard him mumble in Latin what I think sounded like replace. All the wheels went limp and jumped off on to the snow. The new wheels raced forward and took their place. I heard the sound of car parts readjusting and it slowly landed back on the drive way.

"Thanks," I told Elliott.

"No problem," he said.

I strode over to the driver seat and jumped in. The car came to life and I moved my car into the drive way. Anna came down to get her bag of presents and tore back up to the house. I let her go for now. I took out my things and followed her back up to the house.

I went up to my room to begin wrapping presents for everyone. I turned on my iPod quietly to listen to some music. I head Anna go down the hall way and the down stairs. I waited until she would come back up the stairs.

I stepped out of my room and closed the door behind to me shut away the tornado that just crashed into my room. Anna got to the top of the stairs with another roll of tape in her hands.

"Anna, we need to talk," I said.

"No, we don't. Gavin explained it," she said. "I don't think we need to talk about anything."

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I am not okay," she snapped. "I just learned that I'm not me. I'm someone's mini me! I'm not my own person. How am I supposed to feel? And at the same time it makes sense. Everytime I couldn't explain something of why I was feeling a certain way now I know it's because I was feeling your emotions. None of it was ever mine. Maybe that's why I like Elliott!"

"Of course it was yours," I said angrily. "Don't be stupid. You are your own person."

Anna walked past me and slammed her door on her way in. I flinched a the sound and went back into mine. Why didn't I see this coming? I mean I thought she was going to take it the wrong way but I didn't think she'd get this angry or upset. It wasn't then a good idea to tell her about me and Elliott.


	17. Keeping Up Appearences

The last week before break was approaching as well as finals. It was Elliott's last semester before he got a certificate in carpentry and welding. I was happy for him in general. The high schoolers were let a day out earlier then the college kids. And it was that day that I exchanged gifts with everyone else.

Gavin, Thalia, Nora and I sat in the table one last time before winter break. I guess they also had the same idea as me because they all brought their presence, except Nora of course. Nora got some new gadges from Gavin and a black scaft from Thalia. Obviously, Gavin and Thalia weren't going to get their presents right away, they had plans on going out for Christmas. So I handed them their presents which I'm pleased they liked.

"Oh, open mine!" Thalia said happily as she handed me a flat box. I unwrapped it carefully since it looked so elegantly wrapped. It revealed a box and I took off the lid. Inside was a frame with a piece of paper and my name in caligrophy.

"Awh, Thalia, that's so cool," I said looking up with a smile. "Thank you."

"Here's mine," Gavin said with a smile. I eyed him before reacing into the Santa Claus bag. I felt a wooden circle and pulled it out. I couldn't help but laugh as I touched the beads and feathers. It was a dreamcatcher.

"Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming," I said still chuckling.

"Nothing's ever to good for my Native American wife," he teased. The three of us laughed and I thanked him all the same. I headed off to my last final of the day. I was in the classroom for about fourty five minutes before I finished. I walked out of the room to see Elliott sitting on the ground waiting for me.

"Oh, this is a sweet surprise," I joked. He got up to his feet and brushed himself off.

"Well, don't get used to it," Elliott said coming forward to kiss me. We kissed and I could tell instantly he was in a good mood. I pulled away so I could put on my jacket. He held my back pack and then we walked off.

"I got my certificate," Elliott said happily. "And I'll be looking for work during break. I already have a few hours under my belt. And I already quit at the caf."

"And?"

"What do you mean 'and' ?"

"I know there's something else. So just tell me."

"Wow, you're good. Can you guess what I'm thinking?"

"Well, I know it involves me, of course."

"Toche. What are you doing Christmas Eve?" he asked as we approached the front doors leading to the parking lot. There was a gust of wind making the snow on the ground fly and swirl. I thought it over in a second.

"Nothing," I said. "My parents are going to my aunt's house."

"Or, you can spend it with Nate and I?" he said as we came to a stop right at the doors. I looked up at him with a grin. He was inviting me over, that was very not like him and I liked when he surprised me with these kinds of things.

"I think that can be arranged," I said as he draped his arm around my shoulder casually.

"Good." We kissed.

We parted ways as I had to go to work and he had to do his Christmas shopping since he hadn't started it yet. I wondered what he was going to get me since I didn't exactly give him any clues to what I wanted. I didn't really want anything in particular so if he even bothered to get me anything I wouldn't care.

Work kept me busy up until the day before Christmas Eve. I didn't have time to hang with my friends beside Thalia who workwed with me. I didn't get to hang out with Elliott like I would have liked. And most importantly, I haven't had time to try and talk to Anna again.

Or at least, I was afriad to comfront her again. I could feel her anger and frustration and confusion. She couldn't make sense of things and was trying to adjust to the news. I understood her, it was still a shock to me too.

My house became more festive looking and my parents were much happier. They knew something was up with Anna but they like me feared her wrath so they stayed out of her way. The right choice if you ask me. The Christmas tree filled with gifts underneath and beautiful ornaments were hung.

As I cme home from work the day before Christmas Eve, I saw Nate shoveling the drive way. Snow was still falling but he shoveled the three feet of snow already forming. I stepped out of my car and walked over to him.

"This could be a lot easier with a wave of your hand," I said.

"All for sake of keeping appearences," he told me. He stopped shoveling to talk to me. His face was rosy from the cold. "Did my brother tell you about coming over tomorrow?"

"Yeah, he did," I said. "Is there anything I should know? Do you want me to bring anything? Or come by to help out?"

He chuckled. "No, just swing by around six thirty and dress how you normally do. We don't care much about what we wear since it's just us."

I nodded. "See you." I waved good bye and headed home to grab something to eat. I threw my stuff on the couched and walked into the kitchen. Just as I did, I walked into Anna sitting near the island once she saw me she got up and hurried out.


	18. On the Eve

The next day I decide to curl my hair and then I pulled on it to make my hair look wavy. I took Nathan's advice and just threw something on. I picked out a faded Beatles t-shirt and some jeans with some converse. I picked out a bracelet and necklace and headed over.

I shut my bedroom and pulled a sweater over my head.

"You're heading over there, aren't you?"came a voice behind me. I jumped and let out a yelp. I turned to see Anna by her door.

"I thought you left with mom and dad."

"I didn't want to go."

"You can come with me if you want."

"So I can see Elliott all over you?" she asked narrowing her eyes at me. "Pass."

"Anna, I never meant to hurt you."

"Just go."

I didn't say anything more and walked down the stairs. I was greeted by fresh snow on the porch. I made my way off the porch and next door to the Ames household. I knocked on the door and shoved my hands in my pockets. I ulternated my footing trying to keep warm while they came to open the door.

A moment later Nathan came to open the door. He was right aout not worrying aout wardrobe. He was in jeans and a long sleeve shirt. He smiled and let me in.

"So, what snadwhiches for dinner?" I asked Nate.

"Well, El did want to have a Christmas dinner," Nate said. "So, no. We made ham, mashed potaotes and corn on the cob."

"Sounds good," I said. We entered the kitchen where Elliott was on his laptop. He glanced up and smiled when he saw me. He wore a sweat shirt and some jeans. I almost expected his hood to be up but we were in doors and that would be silly.

"Hey, dinner should be ready in twenty minutes once that stupid ham is ready," he said shutting his laptop. The three of us talked until the ham was done and we went into the dinning room to eat. It was nice having dinner with them. Mind you, I had a hard time keeping my food in my mouth with their bickering. After, I helped them clean the kitchen and the dishes.

"You know I could just cast a spell and you wouldn't have to clean," Elliott said coming behind me and wrapping his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder looking at my soapy hands.

"I could but I won't," I said with a shrug. I could feel his warm breath on my skin and it tickled. "Besides I'm almost done." I rinsed the last plate and set it on the drying rack. Elliott turned me around and I giggled as he leaned in and we kissed. At least I knew the reason why he offered to do the dishes.

He pushed me onto the sink. I automatically felt for the wall so I wouldn't fall in. Luckily, he caught me holding me close and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I'd like to have my kitchen sex free, thank you," Nathan said coming in and threw a fork at us. Elliott waved his hand lazily and the fork clattered onto the floor. Either way I pulled away from him even if I regretted it. I hopped off feeling a little embarassed.

"I have to go anyway," I said. "I really should be home, Anna's home alone. Thanks for having me over Nate."

Elliott walked me to the door as I pulled my sweater over my head. He reached into the closet quickly and pulled out a small wrapped box. The wrapping wasn't very festive just simple black paper and a white bow. I glanced at it and back up at Elliott.

"You're acting very boyfriend-ish today," I said suspiciously.

"Don't get used to it."

"I told you I didn't want anything."

"Just wait til your birthday," he chuckled. He shoved his hands in his pockets leaving the present suspended in between us.

I grabbed the small box and I could feel him release it from his hovering spell. I shook it. Nothing.

"This better not be an engagment ring," I said narrowing my eyes.

He laughed. "Just open it, Steves."

I pulld on the tie and the black paper instantly dropped. I smiled at his poor wrapping skills. I opened the small box and inside were a pair of old dog tags. I lifted them up to get a better look. Nothing was ingraved.

"Wow, they're cool," I said. "Thanks."

"They're not just for style," he said grabbing one to show me what it could do. He swung it once and on the metal tag was slightly humming and gravitating toward the dog tag still in my hand. It was some sort of tracker or two amplified magnets.

"Now that's cool," I said impressed. He swung it like a yo-yo and it stopped and went limp.

"I enchanted it," he said.

"I love it." I stepped forward and we hugged. I took a step back and put one of the dog tags around his neck. "I want you to keep the other one."

"I was thinking you could give it to-"

"I want you to keep it. Listen, I got you something too but it's in my room. Swing by around midnight after everyone's asleep."

"Is this some kind of sexual trap?"

"Shut up."

I put on the matching dog tag and left his house. I hurried next door to my house in the dark. The lights were on so I knew everyone was awake. I shut the door behind me and I kicked off my shoes.

The house was eerie when it was quiet like this. I didn't know where Anna wondered off to but I figured she was some where in this house. I went into the living room to see the lighted tree with a bundle of presents under neath. I couldn't wait until my parents to wake up to open my presents. So I grabbed the ones labeled for me and wandered up the stairs.

I kicked my door open and dropped the gifts on my bed. I turned on my light and I saw my window creep open. The next second I saw Elliott swoop inside in one fluid movement. I smiled a little and shut the door behind me.

"It's been like two minutes," I said. "Haven't you had enough of me for one day?"

"If you're trying to get rid of me you'll have to do better then that," Elliott said. "Besides I kind of wanted my present now. And we didn't finish what we started in the kitchen."

He pulled me into a kiss and I kissed him back. Even though I was trying to push him away I was glad he was here. We stumbled onto my bed but it only lasted for a seconds becuase I remember what he was here for.

"Steves, you're such a buzz kill!" he groaned.

I laughed. "Do you want your present or not?"


	19. A Deer Caught in Headlights

He sat up as I walked over to my closet. I raked through my hangers trying to find the leather jacket. I found it in the back where I originally hid it. I yanked it off and turned to face him to show it to him.

He reached for it and I took a seat beside him as he tried it on. It was a perfect fit and he put his arm around my shoulder. "Thank you, I love it." I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder. We stayed like that for a while and then we got around to talking and not about the usual stuff like the Five. I mean that stuff was important but we talked about us and maybe future plans.

We curled up in bed and I lay beside him. We made out for a while just enjoying each other's company. He held my chin in place as he lay beside me. His elbow propped down on my matress and I felt happy just laying here with him.

I didn't know how long we were kissing when someone barged into my room. I never knew how quick Elliott was because I had lept out of bed and he was over by the window ready to jump out.

It was Anna. Her eye brows knit together in confusion and hurt. I could feel myself turn pink in embarassment and guilt for getting caught.

"Anna, you said it was okay if I saw Elliott," I said quickly.

Elliott's phone rang out. He silenced it and answered it moving to a corner in my room. I couldn't tell who it was because I had my attention on Anna.

"I knew he was here," she confessed. "I could feel it, I just had to see it for myself."

"Anna-"

"Sorry to interupt but Nora and Sam have been attacked by a Five beast thing, I think we should go check if they're okay," Elliott said quietly stepping forward. I turned to look at him. He looked serious and geniuninely concerned. I glanced over at Anna.

"I want to go too," she stated.

"Anna, you're not going," I said sharply.

"Yes, I am," she said her eyes flashing dangerously. "I'm part of this too, Stevie."

"Steves, just let her go," Elliott said. I quickly checked the time to see it was eleven fifteen. My parents wouldn't be home for another good hour. The three of us rushed out of my house and piled in his car silenlty.

He drove to Nora's house. Now that I think of it. I haven't been to Nora's house. She never has invited me and I wasn't exactly itching to go with her hating me and all. Her house was by the high school. It was old like the houses here in Old Passage. I spotted her car and it was totaled. It looked like she had gotten into a terrible accident. Most if not all of the windows were broken and the front had a huge dent. I hoped the girls were okay.

I saw Gavin's truck so I knew he and Thalia were here.

"Wow, this looks bad," Elliott said stepping out of his car. We walked up her drive way and knocked on the door. Sam answered the door. There was a nasty scrape on her arm that ran up her short sleeve. I tried not to wince noticably.

"We heard about the accident," I told her. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay," she said in a small voice. She was shaken but that didn't surprise me. Her eyes widened when she saw Anna with us but she let us in all the same. She led us into Nora's living room.

"What was it?" Elliott asked. "The monster thing they sent."

"It was a god damn deer! A deer!" Nora said hoping off the couch. She broke into an explanation about how she and Sam had went out for a snack. On their way home a deer was on the road and purposely stood in their way, hence the busted car. Then they figured out it was a beast thing sent from the Five.

"So you guys killed it?" I asked looking over to Gavin since he's the one that usually handled the remains.

"No," he said shaking his head. "Nora did."

"How?"

"Well, I willed some roots to hold it back and I guess I was really angry and more roots grabbed at it and pop the head rolled off," Nora said.

I winced this time.

"Guys, the Five are going to be furious when they notice we're killing off their minions. What the hell are we gonna do?" Thalia asked crossing her arms. "What if they're waiting to strike or something?"

"Then we'll hit them with everything we got," Elliott said. "You'll be able to see when they're coming won't you?"

She shook her head with a deep breath. "I can't see anything, they seem to know I'm looking for them."

We stayed there for a while trying to figure things out. Nora was more worried with what she would tell her parents. Logically, we just told her to tell the truth she hit a deer. We decided to go back home since we weren't much help now. Sam got a ride home with us. She told us a better version of what happened.

"You're pretty strong," I said turning to look at her. "Remind me not to make you angry."

She grinned and stole a glance at Anna. My sister hadn't said anything since we got to Nora's house or since we left. Their friendship had been severley damaged since Anna found out she was my doppelganger. I honestly hoped it wasn't my fault because well, Sam didn't know any more then I did.


	20. Sacred Grounds

A few weeks later the next semester began and I was off at school once more along with Thalia, Gavin and Nora, occasionally. That's what my world consisted of now a days. I begged my friends not to do anyting for my birthday which was right after New Year's, Janurary 3rd if you want to get technical. And they actually listened to me. Besides the mysterious pizza that was delivered to my house, it went by pretty good. Elliott stuck to his promise and didn't get me anything for my birthday, I was suspiscious he was the one who sent me the pizza.

We were all nervous though about the Five. It had been a while since they were on some kind of haiatus on attacking us. We were on our toes worried they were planning something big. Gavin concluded that there were five and so far three beasts therefore there were only two more to go.

"So, the Five are Chasers?" Anna asked as I got ready for bed one night. She had gotten around to talking to me again solely because she wanted to know more about the mythical world. Obviously, I couldn't answer all her questions I could only say what the others had told me.

"That's what Thalia said," I said. "She also said something about the Great Order of Things what ever that means."

"Have you ever thought if we didn't move back we wouldn't be in this mess?" she then asked thoughtfully. "We would just be normal?"

"Anna, we would never be normal no matter where we are."

"Well, we would be normal longer."

"It still would have caught up to us in the end."

I knew what she meant but this thing wasn't avoidable. Eventually no matter where we were things would have caught up and our whole world would have been a bust. Nothing would have changed. But at least we were here and we weren't alone, we had friends in this. I was grateful for that.

I came home one day and I spotted Elliott on my porch just pacing. I hopped out of the car. Now a days he usually just sneaked into my room just to talk and hang out into the later hours of the night. I found it strange he was out here in first place, he was supposed to be at work.

"Am I getting ambushed or something?" I asked eyeing him and walked forward. He smiled a little.

"I don't know, do you want it to be?" he teased. "Because I can make it happen."

I laughed. We went up the porch steps and into the house. It was still pretty early in the day and I had an hour before I had to go into work. I threw my bag near the steps and walked over to the kitchen. He followed behind me. Elliott strode over to the fridge and pulled out one of my dad's beers.

I made myself a sandwhich and he watched me. I hated the way he watched me, like he was waiting for me to screw up or something. Mind you it wasn't to judge me it felt more like amusement or to have the opportunity to come to my rescue. I yanked out a beer and sat on the stool.

"So, I was thinking," he began coming over to me. He took a swig of his beer.

"Hmm, I smell plan," I said pulling his arm. He came over to my side and swung his arm casually over my shoulder. He chuckled.

"I think I know how we can find out more about the Five," he said looking down at me. "But I'm going to need your help."

"Keep going."

"I need to perform a couple spells on Thalia that can help her see what the Five are preventing her from seeing but I can't do it here. It's powerful stuff and I need to perform the spell on Sacred Grounds," Elliott explained. I liked the sound of that, I didn't see the problem quite yet. Thalia would be okay with that but then I thought of Gavin.

"Gavin," I finally said.

"He's not going to let her leave his sights, even though he wants her to," Elliott said seriously. "His inner self won't be able to take it because his soul puupose is to protect her and this place, his home. I'm going to need you to keep him at bay."

"Have you talked it to it with them yet?" I asked.

"No, I'm going to talk to them after you and Thalia finish your shift. That's why I'm driving you to work and picking you up," Elliott said with a smile. I took a bite from my sandwhich and took a swig of the beer.

I ate and did a bit of homework as he told me about these Sacred Grounds. Lucky for us, his grandparents lived on them so that's where he planned to go. Apparently, he could perform stronger magic there and Thalia could get clearer visions.

He drove me to work. My door popped open and a light breeze shifted my hair. I thanked him for the ride with a kiss and jumped out catiously since there was still a little ice on the ground. I hurried into the building and dreaded the next six hour work shift.

Thalia came in an hour later for hers and it wasn't so bad through out the night. Later on, Gavin showed up to do home work and have dinner. It was pretty empty on a school night only some elders trying to stay out as long as possible.

"You and Elliott are getting pretty close?" Gavin said letting the question hang as we sat with him at the table. They kissed and she rested her head and closed her eyes.

"He's still the sarcastic neighbor I met, but he's grown on me."

"I just want to go to sleep," she said with a yawn. "My blanket and pillow are calling my name!" Gavin and I chuckled.

"Well, sorry to break it to you Thal, but Elliott said he wanted to swing by to talk to you guys about something," I said. Thalia opened her eyes and narrowed them at me. She looked up at Gavin and he shrugged. More regulars came in so Thalia and I got up to continue working. Elliott didn't show up up until fifteen minutes before my shift ended. He waited inside his car.

Gavin, Thalia and I walked into the cold toward him. I could see our breath even though it was dark. I walked over next to him. He pressed his cold lips to my temple and it suddenly didn't feel as cold.

He told them everything Elliott told me earlier. I saw Gavin's eyes cloud at each word. Obviously, he wasn't going to let Thalia go. But this was crucial and I understood why Elliott asked me to help convince Gavin. It wasn't going to be an easy thing to do.

"I want to go," Thalia said right after Elliott stopped talking.

"No," Gavin said. "I can't protect you once you step out of Harper County."

"I can protect her," Elliott said.

"Do you understand how valuable she is?" Gavin snapped. "Once she steps out I can't protect her from the other mythical creatues that may want to use her for her visions. I'm not letting you go out there."

"Gav, this is bigger then me," she pleaed with him. "I can learn more stuff about the Five, we'll have a better fighting chance!" She yanked at his arm grudgingly and glared up at him. Gavin stared at Elliott and I with anger. It was extremely creepy since I've never seen him angry before much less frown, and at me.

"No," he said firmly and walking off. We watched him go.

"I'll talk him into it," she said. "It's the daemon in him talking." She waved at us and rushed after him into the dark. I looked up at Elliott. He was staring off at them for a second before he looked down at me.

"Come on, I'll take you home," he said. He opened the door for me with out magic and he drove us back home. I thanked him for the ride and offered him to come inside. He promised to sneak in later on tonight. I didn't argue. I got ready for bed and something for supper.

As I ate, I did some homework around ten. My window slid open and I felt a cold air enter my room. Elliott jumped in and shut the window behind him. He came over and kissed me deeply. I set the bowl of cereal to one side and he came over deepening the kiss. He pulled away breathless.

"Why don't you kiss me like that on a day to day basis?"I asked with a smirk.

"I'll take a note." He sat down on my bed with a smile. He took a look at my homework. Now that he was here, I didn't even want to do it anymore. I took the bowl and finished eating.

"Don't worry about Gavin, he'll come around," I told him setting the empty bowl on my desk. "What's so special about these Sacred Grounds?" Elliott pulled me on to his lap and I rested my arms just above his.

"There are four points in the continetal United States that you are able to access power in the North, South, East and West," he told me. "It's extremely dangerous for us becuase monsters could probably detect us. But I'm sure I can hide our scent. Historically, it's where a large mass of witches were either sacrificed or murdered, that's why it's sacred. Killing a witch is killing nature's servants."

I thought about it for a minute. There was a knock at my door. I felt him stiffen beside me but he didn't hop over to my window.

"Who is it?" I called out.

"It's me," came Anna's voice from the other side.

"Come in."

Anna creeped into my room and shut the door behind her. She was in her pajamas already. I saw her flinch as she noticed Elliott was in my room.

"Is eveything alright?" I asked her.

"Uh, yeah, I just came to see what you were doing," Anna said taking a seat across from us on my desk chair. "Listen, I think we should try and see if we have any powers together."

"That's not a bad idea," Elliott said.

"I know but I'm tierd today."

"You can work on it once I head out of town," he suggested. "You'll have more time then."

"You're heading out of town?" Anna asked him.

"Yeah, some time soon." She gave a nod before getting to her feet and leaving my room. I jumed to my feet and ripped off the comforter from my bed with him still on it. He rolled off my mattress.

"Hey, give me warning next time, huh?" he said laughing climbing back onto my bed. I stuck out my tounge defiantly and I laughed.

"So are you staying or not?" I demanded as I crawled into bed.

A familiar smirk creeped up on his lips and he came into bed with me. I laid my head on his chest as he rubbed my back until I fell asleep.


	21. Gavin's Handler

"Anna! Stevie! Wake up!" hollered my mom fom down stairs. "Anna Ellizabeth Kendall, Ste-"

I pushed myself off of Elliott. "I'm up!" I shouted to prevent her from using my full name. I hated when she called me by my full name. Elliott groaned under me and rolled over making me fall. I giggled and laid back down resting my chin on his shoulder.

"Was that really neccsary?" he grumbled. "I wanted to know your full name."

"It's not that great, I promise." I said kissing his cheek. "Get up, I wouldn't want my mom catching us."

"You're on me!" He shifted until he was on his back again.

"Shut up." I laughed. He held my face in his hands and we kissed deeply. I sat up and he did too. He slipped back into his shirt. Finally, the weekend. This was my first free weekend in a long time and Elliott and I agreed that we would convince Gavin into letting Thalia go for a few days.

"I don't think it's such a good idea for me to go," Elliott said putting on his jackeet. "He doesn't exactly like me, not that I'm complaining."

"The more reaason you should come. He needs to know you're serious about this."

"I know this is serious, you guys would be losing two powerful mythical creatures," he siad seriously. "Chasers will be tempted and other beasts and such. That's why I don't plan on staying long just about a day. Driving is what will take more time."

"I'll meet you outside in half an hour," I said standing on tip toe and kissed his lips. I could feel him smile and I did too. I pulled away and bounced out of my room to go eat breakfast. My parents were alredy down stairs and so was Anna. I knew my sister was doing her best to pretend everything was okay but I knew she was upset. I had the strange feeling she knew Elliott stayed the night.

"What are you going to do today?" she asked me as she poured herself a glass of milk.

"I have things to do with Gavin and Thalia," I replied. "You?"

"Sam is going to show me the abandoned house," she said. "Then we're meeting up with Nora. You guys should come later if you aren't doing anything."

"I'll tell them."

It was weirdm all of a sudden having the same friends as my little sister. We had never had the same friends, ever well unless you count like family friends or something. She had her friends and I had mine. I blamed it on the age difference but I don't know I guess we always tended to hang with the similar group of people.

When I got back up to my room, Elliott was gone and back in his house. I changed into jeans and a pale orange t-shirt. I tied on my converse. I pulled on a sweatshirt and bolting for the door shouldering my bag.

"I'll be back in a few hours," I hollered to my parents.

"Stevie, are you going out with that neighbor boy again?" Mom asked appearing in the hallway. She looked concerned. It broke my heart when she looked at me like that and I felt kind of guilty at the same time.

"Uh, yeah, double date with Gavin and Thalia," I lied. I hurried out the door before she could stop me. I came out just as Elliott left his place. I rushed on over and hopped into his car. He joined me a few seconds after.

"Do you have any idea where Gavin might be right now?" I asked as he turned the key and the car hummed to life. He peeled out of the drive way.

"Thalia said she was going to his place," Elliott said. I gave a nod and we headed to what I assumed was Gavin's house. Now that I thought about it, I didn't know where he lived. I've been to Thalia's place a few times but never to Gavin's. We pulled up to one of the only apartment building in Old Passage.

"You think he'll open the door?" Elliott asked.

I chuckled. "Please I don't expect him to buzz us in." He laughed too. We walked into the building and pressed the button for the Creed residence. After a second of no answer, I pressed it another four times.

"Will you calm down?" he teased nudging me. I grinned and he laughed.

"Hello?" came Thalia voice through the speaker.

"It's us," I said. "Let us in."

There was a shrill buzz and we heard the faint click of the front door unlocking. Elliott pulled it open for me and we entered the building. He lead me down the hall and up to the sadest elevator I had ever seen. I glanced at it nervously but followed him. It moaned and creaked up one level. The doors slid open and we walked down the hall to apartment twenty six. I knocked on the door and took a step back beside Elliott.

I heard two pair of feet run to the door and Thalia swung it open triumphently. Behind her was an annoyed Gavin glaring at us.

"Come on in," she beamed. We walked in to his apartment messy home. From what I knew of Gavin, it was just him and his mom. She worked at the local news paper day and night since Gavin's dad left two years back. I felt bad for him but he seemed to be doing just fine with Thalia at his side.

"Guys, I know what you're trying to do-" he began.

"Do you?" Elliott asked leaning on the wall and crossing his arms. "We're just trying to talk you into doing something sensible, Creed."

"You make such a compelling arguement I feel so much better now that you said, Ames."

"Stop it, both of you," I cut in. I turned to Gavin. "I know this isn't what you want but it's the best for everyone."

"I'll be back before you know it," Thalia pressed on clinging to his arm like a little girl pleading with her father. "I can take care of myself."

"It's not just that," Gavin said snatching himself away from her grip. "This had to be some kind of trip. Some kind of divide and conquer, we'd be seperated by our most powerful creatures. It's dangerous for you, Thalia, all sorts of monsters will be on your tail."

"I can protect her," Elliott said wearily. "Easily."

Thalia tried again and slid her hand in his. He looked down at their intwined hands and up at her bright blue eyes. I saw his dark eyes soften and I knew he was about to cave any second now. I glanced at Elliott just in time to his lips curl in a smile.

"Fine," he said quietly. "A day. You spend a day on the Sacred Grounds, no detours. If anything happens you call us. When do you plan on leaving?"

Thalia bit her lip in refusing to answer his question. I avoided eye contact once Gavin looked at me for answers. I felt him divert his eyes from me and look at his final option, Elliott. Knowing Elliott for his brutal honesty, he'd tell him.

"Now."


	22. Meet the Daemon

Thalia and Elliott had planned quite well. They were ready to leave since this weekend happened to be a three day weekend according to MLK's birthday on Monday. If they left in the next few minutes, they would make it home Monday night.

I knew Gavin wasn't exactly happy about this but he agreed. Thalia had some clothes stashed in his place and Elliott had packed a bag this morning. I was to stay for a while with Gavin just in case he would decide to go after them. After they left the county, it was my choice if I should stay or not.

The four of us went down to Elliott's car after Thalia packed a few sets of clothes in one of Gavin's bags. Gavin didn't say much.

"I'm pretty sure I've gotten Creed to hate me," Elliott muttered as we approached the elevator. "More then he usually does."

"He'll get over it," I promised with a smile. The doors opened and we stepped rode in silence for the moment in the small compact room. The door opened and we all walked out to his car. Thalia and Gavin turned to say their good byes and Elliott did the same to me. I thought he would give me a smart ass comment about missing him or being careful but he didn't.

"Nate will be next door if you need any witchy voodoo," he said holding my face in his hands. I knew he didn't want to act all boyfriend like in front of the others so in other words what he was saying was 'I'll back as soon as possible.'

"Call me when you get there," I said. He and Thalia got in his car and they drove off. Gavin stared at the car a good while. I wrapped my arms around myself to keep warm. Gavin finally turned to look at me.

"Come on, let's go to the diner," he said. We got in his truck and we drove off down town to have lunch and talk for a while. He didn't say anyting which made me feel alittle uncomfortable like I had betrayed him or something. He didn't look over to me, he was just focused on the road. He was my longest friend here in Old Passage and I didn't want bad blood between us.

"Are you mad?" I asked just as he parked outside the diner. He cut the engine and didn't say anything for a minute.

"No, you were just doing the right thing," he said. We huried on inside and sitting at a table was Nora, Anna and Sam talking. Gavin muttered something about going to the bathroom and I went over to sit with the girls.

"Hey Stevie," Sam said happily. "You and Gavin come by to hang?"

"Uh, we actually didn't know we were coming," I said honestly. "He's kind of going through something."

"Then I'm guessing he wants to be alone," Nora said craining her neck to look over my shoulder.

"What? No-"

I turned just in time to see Gavin slip out of the door and run to his truck. I swore loudly. I raced over to the door nearly knocking down my co-workers. His truck roared to life and wheels screeched. My heart stopped, he was going to stop Thalia from leaving the county. The girls had followed looking concerend and curious.

"Nora, we need to go after him now!" I said spotting her car and running over to it. They followed shouting questions. Nora and I got in the front and Sam and Anna in the back. She tore after him but we were a few cars behind.

"What the hell is going on?" Nora asked her eyes focused on Gavin's truck.

"Elliott is taking Thalia to the Sacred Grounds so she can see visions better and he's trying to stop them," I said. "Hurry up, will you!" We weaved through traffic nearly causing a few collisions and Sam shriek at Nora's frantic driving.

"I think I can stop him but I'm going to need you to take the wheel," Nora said. She pulled over to the side of the road. We scrambled in our seats fast enough to not loose Gavin from our sights.

"Which way did he go?"

"Hey, buddy, why don't you go by the speed limit and save yourself a few spedding tickets!"

"He went that way!"

I shifted into drive and tore down the road trying to catch up. Nora beside me was holding onto the car, her eyes were closed. I didn't question her because I'm pretty sure she knew what she was doing. Gavin passed an intersection and cars honked at him. I was just approaching when Nora said something.

"Take right we'll head him off Route 8," she said. Without question, I turned and went down the lonelier street. I saw the next upcoming intersection, I glanced over at Nora. She was sitting quite still even though the rest of us bobbed up and down on our seats. Her eyes were still closed doing what ever she was doing.

"Left!" she said sharply. I turned and I understood what she was doing. We were racing to get ahead of him before he could leave. I stepped on the pedal and the car lunged forward.

"Be on the look out for Gavin's truck," I said looking through the rear view mirror at my sister and Sam. Right after I said it, I saw Gavin's truck heading to the interstate. I just needed a few more seconds to catch up.

"Hurry up!" Anna shouted.

Nora let out a gasp and just as Gavin pulled up to the lane leading into the line of cars zooming by. The large tree beside snapped infront of his car preventing him from moving forward. Nora finally opened her eyes.

"Good job Nora," I said with a smaile. We made our way to meet him on the other side of the fallen tree. I saw him get out of his car. He looked surprised with what just happen. He ran a hand through his hair. He looked around to find the cause of this freak accident eventually he saw us coming.

He looked angry for a split second before he took off in flight. I slammed on the brakes surprised. I had no idea in the slightest he could levitate. Nora hopped out of the car running toward him. I got out of the car as well.

"Nora!" I shouted.

"Not today, Creed!" I heard her shout. She thrust her hands out palms forward and her fingers curled as if to grab something. She willed the branches of the tree to grab onto him and drag him back onto the ground. "Stevie!" I ran past her as the branches dragged him out of the sky. Nora got him close enough to the ground and I tackled him.

He struggled and snarled but I sat on his back keeping him at bay. I knew he could over power me easily but he didn't want to hurt me. It took him a couple minutes to calm down. By now, I hoped Thalia and Elliott were long gone past the county line.

"I'm okay now, Steves," he muttered . "I swear. She's gone."

I got up and helped him up to his feet. We dusted ourselves off. Sam and Anna came forward to see if we were okay.

"You guys okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, we're okay," I said.

"Hey, guys, you see that?" Nora asked coming forward pointing up in the sky behind us. We all turned to see a black mass coming our way. I squinted into the sky. I could see wings flutter and beady black eyes.

"Crows," Gavin said.

"A whole bunch of them," Anna added.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Sam said nervously.

"Get back in the car!" Nora shouted. Sam, Anna and Nora ran over to Nora's car and Gavin and I ran over to his.

"Drive, drive!" I shouted as he backed up and did a U-turn. I saw Nora did the same and shoot back the way we came from. My phone rang in my pocket.

"Steves, what do we do?" Anna asked. I could hear the worry in her voice as clear as the ice outside.

"We're on our way," I said. "Hang tight."

Gavin made his way throught the roads over to Nora. The flock was hovering over her car as I suspected we had a similar flock above our car. One crow flew through Nora's window.

"Shit!" Gavin stepped on the brakes almost as hard as I did. Anna! I ran out to Nora's car alarmed only to be attacked by a few crows. I felt beaks pecking at me. I trudged on forward.

"Stevie!"

Next thing I know Gavin came after me reaching at every crow and his eyes flashed gray every time he touched one. They all dropped dead in a matter of seconds. He pulled me up to my feet. Nora had come out and roots from the ground swatted away at the demented birds. Sam was shouting orders and they obeyed.

"Make a run for your sister!" Gavin said making a reach for a crow. There were many crows on the ground but just as many still in the air trying to peck us to death. I made a dash through the field to Nora's car to find Anna still in the car.

"Come on we have to help!" I told her over the comotion and reached for her.

"And do what?" she asked. She took my hand and I pulled her out.

"Something," I said. "Anything." I grabbed her hands hoping something would happen, that our doppelganger powers would activate but nothing happened. "Anna, concentrate!" Then it's like something triggered and I was suddenly aware of Anna's presence. I caught flashes of what she was seeing and hearing.

A crow came at me and it stopped on an invisible barrier. It fluttered angrily slamming itself against the unseen wall. I looked around to see what was the source was but I couldn't find it, everyone else was doing their own thing. I looked back at Anna and our linked hands. She had her eyes shut and muttering.

"Anna, don't stop!" I said in amazement.

In no time, Gavin had reached us, Nora had choked them to death or Sam had made them drop dead and all the crows had stopped crowing. Anna stopped chanting and I could feel the power drain out of me like water sliping out of the sink.

"Beasts," Gavin looking at the crows at our feet. I looked down to see the ugly birds branded with the Five crest. "Four down, one to go. Come on let's go before someone sees us." Gavin and I got in his car and gathered at Gavin's house.

I had a good couple bruises forming and a large scrape on my arm. Gavin had a few scratches and less bruises then me. He helped me out of his car and we all went up to clean our battle scars and wounds.

"I am so sorry I got you all into this," Gavin apologized as he cleaned my arm at his kitchen table.

"It's okay," Sam said picking up her hair in a pony tail. "You didn't know this would happpen." I pulled my arm away one he let me go and smiled in thanks.

"You weren't yourself." Anna came over to sit by me. She looked grim.

"Don't sweat it, I'll call Elliott tonight and see if he's at the Sacred Grounds yet," I told Gavin.. I stood up and my whole body felt sore like I did a horrible workout.

"I need to go fix my windows," Nora mumbled putting on her jacket. "See you guys." Sam and Anna followed mumbling something about seeing me later on tonight at home. They left his apartment with a slam of the door.

I looked over at Gavin. He got up and went to the kitchen. He pulled out a bag of chips and two sodas. He strolled over in front of the TV. I joined him.

"I saw what you and your sister where doing back there," he said sound tierd. He took a handful of chips. I set my feet on the coffee table.

"Yeah?" I asked. "I've never felt that kind of power before."

"I think it's called channeling." He clicked on the TV to see an episode of a mystery show that cut to commercial. He skipped through channels trying to find something to watch. He ended up stopping on a music video.

I tried to watch but my eyes felt heavy with sleep. I didn't realize how channeling tierd me out. I glanced over to Gavin. Like me, his feet were on the coffee table with his arms crossed and his head on his shoulder. He was already way ahead of me. I did the same and the last thing I remember seeing was a rapper bouncing in a low rider.


	23. In the Meantime

I woke up on Gavin's couch as he still lay asleep beside me. I checked the clock to see it had only been three hours, six o'clock. A blanket was on both of us and I didn't remember how it got there.

"Good morning," came an unknown voice behind me. A tall thin woman with elegant features was on a laptp on the kitchen table. She wore her hair in a high bun and glasses. Her eyes were dark and deep like Gavin's and she had the same warm smile. I hadn't seen Gavin's mother in years well unless you count the times I've only seen her walking down the street. "Or should I say good evning."

"Hi," I said. "We must have dozed off. Do you-"

"Know he's a daemon?" she asked as if it were nothing. "Of course, I knew it, since he was born. Daemons skip generations in my family. You're the doppelganger?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"I could tell, you and your sister look very much alike except for the eyes."

"We got attacked by one of the beasts today, more like a flock of them," I said getting up with out waking up Gavin.

"Really?" she asked looking up at me. "Are you all alright?"

"We're fine just tierd," I said. Feeling a little awkward, I thought this would be just about the right time to leave. "Listen, I need to be getting home. Please tell Gavin, I left. It was seeing nice you Ms. Creed."

"Nice seeing you too, Stevie." I walked out of the apartment and dialed for Nora to come and get me. She wasn't exactly in the mood but she came to get me, cussing and all. I slipped into her fixed car. She didn't have many battle wounds just a scratch or bruise in a few spots.

"So how did you get his girlfriend to go with your boyfriend out of the county?" she asked as she drove off. She was throwing every knife in her arsenal that she could muster. I stiifened, she wasn't getting under my skin, not if I could help it.

"It wasn't easy," I said. "But we need to know more about the Five."

She didn't say anything more and neither did I. It was obvious she was angry, that's all she seemed to be like now a days. And I always seemed to be at the end of her intended retorts to bring me down. She stopped in front of my house and I hopped out.

"Thanks," I told her.

She gave a nod and pulled into Sam's drive way. I walked over to my house to hear Anna rustling in the kitchen. I walked over and saw her reheating chicken from a few nights ago.

"Hi," she said breathlessly. She closed the microwave and turned to look at me. "I thought you were going to stay with Gavin just in case he runs off again."

"Thalia's long gone by now and he fell asleep watching TV," I said sitting on a stool. I lay my head on my palm and watched her bring out the plate of chicken. "He told me our connection was called channeling. I think we should try it tomorrow if you're not doing anything."

"Sure."

I waited later on that night for Elliott to call me but he never did. I figured I'd call him in the morning before I had a chance to leave the house. I fell asleep almost exactly when my head hit the pillow. I guess I didn't know how tierd I was.

I planned on waking up late but around eight my phone started buzzing. I rubbed my eyes and reached over to my night stand. It was Elliott.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, miss me yet?" Elliott asked me. I could almost see the smirk on his face. I smileed and sat up. It was great to hear his voice again.

"Hah, no."

"Funny. We got here late last night and I didn't want to wake you. Did Creed take it hard yesterday?"

"Taking it hard would be putting it mildly. Hey, did Thalia tell you we got attacked by the next beast?" I asked.

"Yeah, Gavin called her last night while I was driving. Damn, I wish I was back home," he said sounding annoyed with himself. "I heard you and Anna were channeling."

"It was for a few seconds," I said with a shrug even though he couldn't see me. "We're gonna practice today. How are things on your end? Any voodoo going on there?"

"Not yet, I'm still getting prepared for some wicked spells. Hey, I'll talk to you later. I'll call later on tonight."

"Okay, just watch yourslef with that magic."

"Hey, Steves?"

"Elliott?"

"I miss you, babe." Before I could respond, he hung up on me. I smiled despite myself. He missed me and I felt rather happy. I was getting a sense of how much he cared about me. I set my phone aside and hopped out of bed.


	24. The Flea Market

I did my bed and hurried over to my closet to pick out something to wear. I threw some jeans over my shoulder and a yellow long sleeve shirt. There was a knock on my door and Anna popped in. She strode in and looked at my clothes.

"Come on, hurry up," she said. "You said you wanted to practice, let's practice."

"You're not even dressed yet," I said throwing her a glare.

"I will be."

I got dressed and hurried over for a quick fix up. I trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen. Mom and Dad were sitting in the kitchen having some coffee and talking. They smiled at me and Mom returned to her coffee and Dad returned to his newspaper.

"Got any plans today?" Mom asked.

"Sort of," I said. "It's just gonna be me and Anna. Gonna go out and do sister bonding." I mustered as much casualty in my voice as possible. Anna and I had decided to go to the abandonded house for a while to practice more channeling. I poured myself a glass of milk.

I ate with my parents before calling Anna down the stairs to head out. She flew down the steps and we went outside the door. It was fairly nice out with sunlight and everything. We made our way to the back of the house and to the abandonded house across the fieldd. We entered the old battered down house. We hurried down to the basement where most of the things, mostly junk, was kept.

"So, what are going to try and do?" Anna asked me looking around.

"I don't know," I said. "Let's try and make something elevate." I cleared the old table so an old dusty cushion sat on top. I reached over to her and she grabbed my hands. I saw her close her eyes and I did the same. I gripped her hands trying to concentrate. I opened my eyes a milimeter to see if the cushion had risen. Nothing.

"Are you concentrating?" I asked closing my eyes again.

"Yeah."

"Try harder."

"I am!"

We waited about another ten seconds and she let me go, annoyed. I opened my eyes as well and saw the cushion right where I left it.

"You were muttering something yesterday," I said. "What was it?"

"I just kept saying shield over and over again. I felt like it amplified when I accessed you, like we were one."

"I felt it to."

I looked around at the place. Our abilities didn't seem to activate when we were fine only when we were in danger or when I feel like I need Anna. I had felt like I broke some kind of barrier and I was allowed in and we became whole. Maybe we had to start out simpler then trying to make something elevate.

"Maybe we should start out with something personal," I said slowly.

"Okay," she said with a nod. She came over to me so we stood right in front of each other. Her hazel eyes staring at me for the next instructions to follow. I didn't know what to do but I took her hands anyway. I felt it again, the familiar spark that would push open the barrier to be whole again. I felt Anna squirm excitedly.

"Let me see, through your eyes," we muttered together in a low voice. I breathed and I opened my eyes to stare at myself. It was like looking at a mirror: my hair was straight and my brown eyes were staring right at me. I could see over my head to the things that lay behind me like an old sofa, a chandelier and an old wardrobe. I looked down to see Anna's curls resting on my shoulders and I cuaght a big smell of her shampoo cherry blossom and lillies. I could feel her cold feet in her shoes.

The the strangest thing happened. My eyes turned hazel and I saw my eyes widened as I knew Anna's eye color was changing to brown. I shut my eyes and I could feel myself release from Anna and I drifted back into myself. I opened my eyes, to my relief I was back in my own body and Anna's eyes were adjusting back to hazel.

"Whoa!" Anna said excitedly. "That was cool! Let's do some more!"

We ended up hanging out at the house trying to expand our abilities but no luck. It wasn't easy to open back up to the connection. It opened up once more but that was about it. We went back home around three to warm up and make some hot chocolate. Anna later on left to hang out with Sam. I grabbed a book to read and lay on the couch.

The door bell rang. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom rose to grab the door. I turned the page and continued on reading. A few seconds later my mom called me over.

"Stevie, Gavin's here to see you," she called from the hallway. Startled, I set down my book. I walked over to see Gavin at the front door talking to my mom. My mom had a bright smile. I knew she wasn't all too happy about me seeing Elliott, it was no secret she wanted me to break up with him and get together with someone like Gavin. Too bad for my mom, that he was madly in love with Thalia and I with Elliott.

"Hi," I said."What are you doing here?"

"I was going to call but- I can go if you're busy," he said.

"Oh, no, I'm was reading. Just let me grab my jacket." I shot up the stairs to grab my jacket and swept back down and out the door with Gavin. We got in his car and drove off down the street.

"So, what's there to do on a Sunday night?" I asked him.

"Depends what you're in the mood for," Gavin said with a smile. I chuckled and we drove out of Old Passage to the next town called Open Creek. It was just as small as small and secluded as Old Passage. Gavin pulled up tp to a flea market in an alley. Through out the alley I saw doors leading to shops and stands. I stared at him quizically.

"A flea market?" I asked. "This is your idea of fun?"

"Give me some credit, I know what I'm doing."

I shook my head and followed him inside. Vendors sood displaying their merchandise as I got closer it wasn't anything I recognized. One was selling the strangest fruits I had ever seen like over grown radishes with gray tips, and incredibly small peaches or grapes, I wasn't sure.

Some where down the lane I saw cages of animals I had never seen in my life. There were small cotton balls of different colors and bulging red eyes. Beside it was a large red bird about three feet tall. It's black beady eyes looked a thousand years old. It stretched its' wings fire sparks flying madly. It was a phoenix.

"This is a mythical flea market," I said as we walked through the crowded alley. "I didn't know these even existed."

"Neither did I," he said. "Up until about two years ago. They show up for a night. By midnight, they'll be gone moving on to the next town where mythical creatures are."

Gavin bought a couple herbs and spices for the future. You could never be too careful with what we may need if the Five only had one beast left until they came after us. There was a magical object shop. I thought about getting something for Elliott so when he gets home he'd have a nice surprise.

Gavin and I squuezed into the shop called 'Ateus Senses Sensory Objects'. When the door shut the noise outside died away. A few costumers were looking around. We did the same and Gavin pointed a couple things out to me like these watches that weren't really watches, in reality they were bronze shield once you pushed the alarm button or a clatter of key chains that could expand and capture. I walked over to some single cabinets in a corner.

"What are these?" I asked Gavin.

"They're called Shadow Cabinets," he told me. "Great way to hide objects that don't want to be found. They disappear for as long as you want and they return when you want them too. Kind of handy for pot dealers or hiding porn."

I laughed and nudged him playfully.

"If you're looking for something for Elliott, I think he'd appreciate this," Gavin said steering me over to a shelf full of what looked like rear view mirrors. I looked at him so he could inform me what the heck these things were. "It shows you what you want to see. Try it."

I picked one up and looked into it to see my reflection. Then the image rippled like water and began to change. It was a dark living room with a pizza box on the coffee table. Thalia was curled up on the sofa fast asleep and Elliott was wide awake staring at the TV. He looked tierd and weary. His day must have been filled with spells and visions. The imgae rippled once more and the scene faded and all I could see were my brown eyes again.

"Anything else?" I asked feeling down all of a sudden. Now I knew how Gavin was feeling. I don't know who had it worse honestly.

"Just seeing you and I think Ames will be a happy man again," Gavin had said as we left the magical object shop. We left the flea market later into the night. We made a stop at the diner for a late dinner and he drove me home.

"Thanks for taking me out for a few hours," I said. "I had fun."

"I did too." He smiled at me and I returned it. I hopped out of his car and sneaked into my house. Once my door shut, I heard his car tires screeching. I went up to my room to get ready for bed. Just as I got settled my phone rang from my jeans. I leaped over and answered it right away.

"Hello?" I asked.

"You don't know how amazing it is to hear your voice," came Elliott's tierd voice from the other side.I blushed even though I knew very well he couldn't see me. "So, miss me yet?"

I huffed. "No."

He chuckled. "How was your day?"

"Anna and I were able to do some channeling this morning with practice I think we can get it down. Gavin took me to a mythical flea market and saw some pretty cool stuff," I said laying back in bed. "And you guys? Were you able to get some visions?"

"Yeah, lots of info," he said perking up a little. "But we'll talk about it when we get home."

"And when will that be?"

"Some time tomorow morning. I'll come straight over."

"I like that idea," I said curling up and I yawned widely.

"Get some sleep, I'll be there when you wake up." He and I hung up at the same time. I turned off my light. Before I knew it, I drifted off into a happy sleep anticipating Elliott's arrival tomorow.


	25. Love Me Love Me

"Steves, wake up," came a gentle voice from my dreams. "Stevie?"

I turned in my sleep plunging my face in my pillow so I wouldn't be blinded by the sunlight in my room. I felt someone's hand on my shoulder to which I groaned.

"Come back later," I mumbled still groggy from sleep.

Who ever it was turned me onto my back so I could be greeted by a cold pair of lips. I immediately knew it was Elliott and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He pulled me up so I could sit in front of him. He pulled away after a few seconds.

"You have to admit you missed me."

"Get over yourself." He was still in his jacket and his cheeks were still pink from the cold. His dark blonde hair lay flat and his eyes were alert and happy. "I don't want to inflate your already over sized ego."

"Me? Have an ego?" he laughed. "Mmm, you have missed me, Steves." He kissed my lips laying me back in bed. Cutting right in, my phone buzzed loudly on my night stand. I pulled away from Elliott. "Come on, I just got here!"

"It'll only take a sec," I said trying to climb over him. Playfully, we wrestled on my bed until he let me win and I grabbed my phone. It was a text from Thalia.

"She wants to meet at the abandoned house in half an hour," I said. I shut my phone and skipped on over to my closet. He got up from my bed to look himself in the mirror. "El, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you love me?" I tried not to look at him as I asked. I knew it was a stupid question but I wanted to know his response and not just over the phone or sarcasm. No matter how much I didn't want to admit it to him, I had missed him over these few days, terribly.

"That depends," he said walking over to me. He made me look at him and kissed me deeply making me bend back a little. My heart beat wildly at his touch, he pulled away slight to let me breath. "Do you love me?" I could feel his lips moving above mine as I breathed him in. He smelt like after shave and leather. I felt his arms around my hips. I pulled away and looked up at placed a palm on my cheek, in his own way he was asking me for the truth.

I bit my lip to prevent myself from saying something smart and sassy. I stared into his eyes and I knew his answer to my question. He loved me that was something I was sure of and I belived it. "I love you," I said sincerely.

Half an hour later after I changed, had breakfast and gave Anna the message, we all gathered at the abandoned house. We were waiting for Nora to get here. Elliott had his arms around me and gazing out to the door with intense eyes as if ready to get me out of here if something serious were to happen. I rested my arms on his and slipped my fingers locking them with his. This was a lot of PDA on his account but I don't think he cared. He was just happy to be back with me.

We heard the door open down stairs and a few seconds passed when Nora appeared at the top of the stairs. She was still in her pajamas so I figured she had accidentally fallen back asleep again after she had recieved the text from Thalia.

"Good of you to join us, Nora," Gavin said standing behind Thalia. Nora glared at him and crossed her arms. She went to stand next to Sam and waited.

"Alright then we're all here and accounted for," Sam said happily. "Can we start?"

"So, I performed some penitration spells to go past the barriers they were putting up. And it worked," Elliott said throwing in a wicked smile. "Tell them what you saw."

"I had three visions in total yesterday," Thalia said. "The Five are super hunters whose job is to rid the world of magical creatures especially if they come together like we have. According to them, we are supposed to loners and maybe even nomadic."

"You got all this from a vision?" Nora asked.

Thalia giggled. "No, Elliott's relatives had grimoires with information on the Five. Anyways, my first vision was of members, it wasn't very bright but I saw their cloaks brown, red, green, silver and blue."

"That's an odd combo," I noted.

"We thought the same," Thalia said gazing up at Elliott. "We thought maybe the colors represented, you know, the five elements but we're not sure if it's mythical or human."

"Well tell us your next vision."

"The good news is there is some distance between us and them," she went on. "They're some where in Spain, I caught a glimpse of a castle called _Inicio de los Comienzos_."

"In English?" Nora asked.

"Home of beginnings," Anna translated beside me. "What was the third vision?"

Thalia's face turned pale as she recalled the vision she had seen. She looked troubled and slightly anxious. If Thalia was worried with what she saw, I knew the rest of us should worry. "I saw them planning to come find us if their last beast fails," she said twirling her hair with her thumb and index finger.

"That's crazy," I said. "We aren't a threat to anyone."

"They don't know that," Elliott said behind me. "They see this assembly as a threat becuase of all its' members. They apperently won't even allow communties of purely mythical creatues, they'll just destroy it." Now it made sense why the mythical flea market always traveled, to avoid procecussion and not face thewrath of the Five.

"So, what do we do now?" Sam asked looking at all of us. I looked up at Elliott and he shrugged. Then I looked over to Gavin and Thalia. Thalia had looked up to Gavin to have one of those silent conversations that we never quite understood. A mutual understanding went between them and their eyes broke contact.

"We'll come up with something," Gavin said.

I looked up at Elliott anxiously. He was still staring at the door as if he was waiting for the Five to bust in any moment. I tugged on his arm and he looked down at me. He lightly kissed my temple and held me tighter.

I wanted to believe him and think it to be as easy as he said but I couldn't help being slightly afraid of what or who they were. I was glad nobody suggested that we seperate because I think together we would make a pretty fierce team.


	26. A Team

Days went on as calm as usual or at least as calm it could get for us. Janurary slipped into Feburary with no sign of some animal trying to hurt us. Given for granted that none of us had gotten hurt from any of the beasts but I don't think that was their intention or they could have done some real damage already. I told Gavin and Thalia my worries and they agreed.

I sat in my English class listening to the professor talk about Greek epics. Mind you I actually like Homer and the other deceased poeats but today frankly, I wasn't interested. I had been texting Thalia through out class. I was also trying to contact Anna telepathatically but so far no luck. Half way through class I felt a spark as a few of her thoughts rammed into my head.

_Yes, Mallory because no one knows you haven't slept with the whole football team already. No one's going to take you seriously,_ Anna thought sarcastically.

It came as quickly as it was gone. I was shut out of her thoughts so I never got to hear what was next. I heard the teacher stop talking to which I raised my head. Class was over and she was writting the next reading assignment. I jot it down and picked up my things. As I walked out of class, I spotted Elliott waiting outside the room.

"Why are you here on your lunch break?" I asked checking my phone for the time.

"I got too much spare time on my hands," he said with a shrug. He slung his arm over my shoulder as we walked to the caf. "And the guys at work were bugging me to come seeing what today is."

"What's today?" I asked hoping I didn't sound as panicked as I felt. I quickly scanned my brain thinking about what today was. It wasn't our anniversary but it we never really took that seriously, much less celebreated it with any corny lovey-dovey shananigans.

"Valentine's Day," he said as he opened the door. My shoulders dropped as I let the air I was holding in out.

"Oh," I said. "I thought it was something important."

"Well I didn't want to look like an ass in front of my friends-"

"More then what you already are?"

He smiled. "Right, so I thought I'd drop by to keep up appearences, you know."

I laughed and kissed his lips. "Thanks for coming, El. You willing to buy me lunch, boyfriend?"

"Now you're just taking advantage of me."

He bought me lunch and we sat down to talk for a while. Snow was lightly falling again onto the ground. I almost dreaded going home today. I didn't have many hours at work this week so I had new found free time that I hadn't experienced since high school.

"I tried channeling with Anna and I almost got through, it was like listening to a broken radio," I said dipping my french fry in ketchup.

"On a brighter note, I brought some grimoires from my relatives house and I think we should start looking through them, they give us a better clue on these so called Five," he suggested. I gave a nod. That's one of the things I loved about him straight and to the point and always ready to move on and search for answers, even if that mean to dead ends.

"Yeah, I'll come over after class," I said with a smile. We continued eating until he had to leave forty minutes later.

I got an hour to do some homework before my next class started. My second class was no better then my first. I scribbled notes when the professor jotted something on the black board. I was gladly released into another half hour break. I didn't see Thalia or Gavin only Nora. I went to go sit by her for a while.

"Hey," I said setting down my things as I took a seat.

She looked up at me and narrowed her eyes almost as if to say no. But she just returned to her school work. I was surprised with how uncomfortable it was hanging with Nora now a days. She barely spoke to me, much less direct a single word to me.

"How are you?"

"Don't do this, Kendall."

"Why is it all of a sudden I'm your enemy? Is it because I'm with Elliott?"

"You catch on fast," she said with a roll of her eyes. My blood simmered at her words that made it sound like it was my fault. If I recalled correctly, Elliott was after me since I got here. I was in no mood for Nora's shit today.

"Listen, I'm sorry that you don't like me dating Elliott but we're not going to tend to your whim when you've become more of a stranger then a friend," I snapped angrily. "If anything you should take it up with him, not me." I juumped out of the chair and stormed off to go find some where else to hang out before class. Nora was really starting to bug me more and more.

I got to my last class of the day still irritated and moody but as the class moved on slowly it was soon replaced with boredum. Listening to the teacher ramble on and on just made me drain away all the anger. Before I knew it, it was three thirty and class was over. I gathered my things and headed to my car, I was happy to get home, Elliott would be waiting.

By the time I got home, I saw his car already parked in the drive way. I rushed inside my own house to drop off my things. I heard sound coming from Anna's room and I went to go check on her. It was her and Sam hanging out in her room. They both were on their laoptops and messy pony tails.

"Hey," they said happily.

"I'm heading over to Elliott's to search through his grimoires for some kind of info on the Five," I said. "Want to come with?"

"We're doing our own research," Sam said typing madly on her laptop. "Let us know if you find anything."

"Same goes to you." I left and hurried along next door to Elliott's. Nate answered the door to let me through the threshold. I guided myself to the living where Elliott sat on the ground his back against the sofa. He was reading a tattered pocket book. He looked up and smiled once he saw me.

"Hey," Elliott said. "So, I've found out that these Five people have been around for an eternity, they reincarnate once a life cycle is over." I took a seat on the sofa and reached for a grimoire in a bag on the coffee table.

"Sounds like these relatives were more knowleable then the ones you have stored here," I teased laying down and propping open the book.

"Guess so," he said with a shrug. We sat for a few hours in silence just reading. Finally, something familiar. I had missed just hanging out with Elliott like this. The only sound was of pages turning or the occasional sounds of Elliott throwing his head back on my lap and I leaning over to kiss him.

I didn't find anything in particular about the Five. There were some fantasic stuff on potions, curses and spells but not what I was looking for. It was well past seven when I found something important.

"Hey, look at this," I said straightening up. "It just says 'Five' and a small paragraph that goes like this 'Wood feeds fire/ Fire creates earth/ Earth bears metal/ Metal collects water/ Water nourishes wood.'" I handed him the book so he could see.

"That's weird it sounds like a cycle," Elliott noted as his eyes scanned the page. "Of normal human elements."

"So the Five are elements," I said pointing to the paragraph on the yellow parchment. "Wood, Fire, Earth, Water, Metal."

"We make a good team, Kendall," Elliott said. He got up to his feet and sat beside me with a smile.

"Yes, we do, Ames."


	27. Tag Team

I got back home to tell Anna and Sam about our new found discovery of what the Five really were. The girls looked relieved for the reason I'm sure is similiar to mine. We finally knew what we were up against. I texted Gavin and Thalia to let them know but they insisted we talk about it tomorrow in person at the diner during the work shift.

The next day I found myself to be a little more refreshed and in a slightly better mood. I only had two classes today which wasn't that bad and I'd be out of the building around one thiry. I spotted Gavin in between classes and I hurried over.

"How was your Valentine's Day?" he asked as I took a seat in front of him.

"Ha ha very funny."

"It's a valid question."

"Lunch, okay? What did you do for Thalia yesterday?"

"Flowers, dinner, movie, cuddlling-"

"Romantic." He and I laughed. We worked on homework togeher before we had to seperate again. I spent fifty minutes in my class before I headed home. It was the greatest feeling ever when I was home alone for a while and just relaxing before work.

I sat in the island eating some burger from a fast food place on my way home from school. I wasn't too keen with fast food but it satisfied my hunger. Beofre I knew it I was heading off to work. I told Thalia what I had discovered yesterday and she agreed. And all we had to do was wait until the next beast showed up.

The rest of Feburary was relatively quiet. Well except for a Nora's nasty glare and sarcastic remarks which were in my case worse then the Five's beast any day. Hell hath no fury like a nymph's scorn. I'd step into mud puddles in the most inopportune times, an untimely breeze went by ruffling my hair or some other small unfortunate unexplained event.

Anna started hanging out with her less and less once she discovered the rift between Nora and I. I appreciated the thought but Anna being friends with her was none of my concern. March entered with ease. Toward the middle of the month, I learned we had Spring Break. I certainly had nothing planned except taking off a few days from work.

"Are you and Gavin doing anything over break?" I asked Thalia as we left work one Friday night. We were let out for a week. Since I already had Sunday off, I requested Monday and Tuesday off. I'd have an extended weekend.

"Nothing I guess," she said with a shrug. "Maybe go apartment hunting. We kind of want to get a place of our own. Maybe you can move in to help with rent."

"I'll keep that in mind," I sad. We parted ways and I drove home. It wasn't as cold as before still chilly but it was bareable. I could wait until summer roamed around again. I drove home to see Elliott sitting on my porch.

"You know you can wait for me inside," I said as he rose.

"And have your parents invite me over for dinner?" he asked raising an eye brow. I laughed and kissed his lips. "Pass. How about I offer you a moive night?"

"Can I take a rain check?" I asked slowly. "I work the morning shift til one."

"So what am I supposed to do all night?"

"Calm down, I'll keep my window unlocked."

We kissed and I hurried inside to my house where I was greeted with warmth. I shut the door behind me and set my jacket on the hook near the door. I walked over to the kitchen where my parents were finishing up washing the dishes from tonight's dinner. Mom had a plate of raviolli on the stove for me.

"Oooh, I'm starving!" I rushed forward to pick up the plate to figure out it was still warm. I grabbed a fork and dug in.

"I saw the neighbor boy waiting outside for you," Mom said casually. My parents knew I was in a relationship with Elliott, I didn't undetstand why she was finally saying something now. Every time I tried talking to her about him, she always tried to change the subject.

"Yeah, he does that every once in a while," I said slowly.

"I think you should bring him around for dinner tomorrow night," Dad suggested. Whoa, Elliott was good, I thought Thalia was the Oracle. "We haven't gotten to know him properly and I want to know who you're dating."

"Dad, he lives next door," I said swinging around in my stool to look at him. "You could just walk over there and talk to him and Nate. They don't bite." They perform spells.

"I like that idea," Mom said rinsing a plate. "It'll be fun." I swung back around to my raviolli. I could tell this discussion was already pre-rehearsed, what ever I said was no way taken into consideration. I ate without another word and went up to my room.

I yanked out my pajamas to lay down in comfort for a while. As I pulled off my shirt, I heard a light thud behind me. I turned to see Elliott closing my window.

"I can help with the rest," he teased coming forward and pulled me into his arms. He kissed me. I smiled despite myself and kissed him back. He pressed me to him and I felt the cool leather jacket on my warm skin. He pulled away to place soft kisses down my neck. We stumbled over onto my bed and our lips connected once more. I slipped him out of his leather jacket. I pulled away before we continued. He looked disappointed but he threw me a bone.

"Everything okay?" he asked moving my hair behind my ear.

"My parents want you over for dinner tomorrow," I said stroking his cheek. My hand slid down his arm and our fingers tangled together. "Something about getting to know you."

"No problem, what time you want me over?" he asked.

"Seven thirty?"

"Seven thirty it is." He smiled and leaned forward until our foreheads touched. Seeinng how cool he was with the dinner I felt better. If it was anything like the dnners at his house I wouldn't mind. The next day I woke up with out Elliott. I was pissed.


	28. The Uninvited

I yawned widely as I sat next to Thalia at the diner. It wasn't very busy today. People liked coming in on Sundays mostly because the kids watched cartoons. There were a few kids dragged in by their grandparents and a few people who were regularly here.

"I find it strange the Five haven't sent their final beast yet," Thalia said watching a kid throw his scrambled eggs at his sister. "I'm getting worried."

"Maybe they gave up?"

"As much as I want to believe that I don't think so."

"Have you gotten any visions?"

"No, that's why I'm on a verge of panicing."

The rest of our shift went by pretty quickly. Gavin showed up as he usually did waiting for Thalia to get out of work. I was egar to get out of work to begin my extended break. I planned to hanng with Anna for a while before she went on a date with some senior in her English class. She had spent a good week talking about it.

Once I punched out I looked at my phone. I had two missed calls from Anna. I shook my head and pocketed it. Gavin and Thalia waited for me on the stools.

"You sure you don't want to hang with us?" Thalia asked as Gavin held her hand and pulled her into a side hug. "We got nothing to do today."

"As tempting as that sounds, Anna wants me back home and I gotta prepare for tonights' dinner," I said shouldering my bag. "I'll check in with you later."

"Good luck with the dinner," Gavin said nodding over to my car. I looked over my shoulder to where I saw Elliott sittting on the hood of my car. Gavin and Thalia waved and he did the same.

"I hope that was meant for Elliott."

"It was."

Thalia and I laughed and we parted ways. I walked over to my hood and Elliott slipped down in front of me. He leaned in to kiss me but I turned my head quickly. He looked at me surprised.

"You left last night," I accused. He pulled me in close to him and kissed me hard. I tried to push him away but that just made him hold me tighter. I yelped in annoyance and amusement and he let me go.

"You didn't actually expect me to stay?" he asked with a raised eye brow and trying to kiss me again. I slipped a hand in between our faces until he pulled away.

I smiled. "Touche." I punched his chest playfully.

_Steves, hello, is this working? We have a major problem!_

_ Anna?_

Then her throughts were cut off like if someone switched off the radio. I tried reconneting to our private line. Anna and I were still trying to figure out how to work our doppelganger connection. So far it was like trying to talk on a walkie-talkie filled with static and flipping through channels.

"Something's wrong," I said looking up at him. "We need to get home now."

He got in his car and I in mine and we raced home. On my way I tried comunicating with Anna again. Nothing, I was blocked out. I turned on to my road and saw a car already parked on my spot. On the porch were some kids talking to Anna. My heart sank, it was no mythical emergency but it sure was a normal one. It was a down right crisis.

Standing on my porch with Anna were two people. I recognized the tall bulked up guy almost instantly. It was my former boyfriend Jaime and best friend Maria from back home. I still talked to Maria on occsion but I cut off all sorts of communication with Jaime.

I got out of my car. Maria looked apologetic for what was about to go down. I had a feeling this was more of Jaime's doing then Maria's. I crossed my arms and went up the porch steps.

"He was prying me for info, I didn't know what to do. I'm so sorry," Maria said quickly.

"Wow," I said. "I almost didn't recognize you without Ashlee attatched to your face and your football helmet."

I heard a car door slam and Elliott jogged over. I felt his hand before I could see him. His hand was on my back as he looked to me and the visitors. "Everything okay?" he asked. His hand slid down to my hip.

"Not exactly," I said. "This is my best friend from back home, Maria and he's Jaime. Maria, this is my boyfriend I was telling you about." Elliott smiled at her and they shook hands. I saw Jaime practically fuming out of jealousy or annoyance. "You guys go inside, I want to talk to Jaime for a second."

Elliott looked down at me eyebrows together in question and suspicion. I gave him a look and he nodded. Anna, Maria and Elliott went inside. I was ready to let him have it. He had nerve showing up. Couldn't he take a hint that I was well over him and moved on?

"You stopped taking my calls," he began."And Ashlee-"

"I hope you didn't come to justify yourself because the last thing you said to me was 'I don't regret what I've done' so thanks but no thanks. Don't worry about Maria, I'll give her back in about three days. Have fun."

I tried walking past him but he grabbed my arm and turned me back around.

"Listen to me," he said. "You can't honestly be serious about that guy. He's not right for you."

"No, you were never right for me. Ashlee always said you were trouble and she was right. Too bad I had to go out with you to figure it out for myself!" I snapped angrily. "I'm sure Ashlee is waiting for you back home."

I walked past him and turned the knob. Just as I shut the door Elliott was coming down the hall. He looked worried.

"That guy bothering you?" he asked. I bet Anna had already told him who Jaime was and why I wanted to talk to him. He took my hand and his other on my cheek trying to see if I was alright. I nodded my eyes burning with angry tears. "I can go kick his ass, just say the word Steves."

I chuckled. "No, not today."

"So, tomorow?"

"I'll let you know." I kissed his lips in gratitude and walked back to the living to catch up with Maria. I invited her to dinner later on tonight so my parents would get a surprise. Elliott, Anna, Sam and I showed Maria around town. There wasn't much to show but we walked around down town. She told me about some kids we were friends with.

"And Megan Parker got knocked up," Maria said.

"No," I gasped as I walked hand in hand with Elliott. Sam and Anna walked behind us having their own conversation. "Was she still with Felix?"

"His brother Justin!"

"Wow, that's crazy. How long do you plan on staying?"

"Til Wednesday."

"Yay! This is great," I said happily. I looked up at Elliott grining and he smiled back kissing my hair. I could tell he was happy for me.


	29. My Dad vs Elliott

Later on that night, we all went back to my house for the stupid dinner my parents wanted with Elliott and I. I managed to convince Anna to take Maria out for a movie. She's had plenty of dinners in my house to know to stay away.

"Don't speak unless spoken to," I advised as we entered my house. We hung our jackets and hurried down the hall to the kitchen. My mom was tossing a salad while my dad was pulling some turkey out of the even. "Hey mom, dad. You guys already know Elliott, our neighbor."

Elliott smiled fearlessly and shook my dad's hand. "Mr. Kendall." Point for dad. Elliott moved on to my mo to shake her hand too. Mom flustered and I'm not sure yet if it was in acceptence or annoyance. I grinned.

"Where's Anna?" Dad asked.

"Out for a movie. Can we just get this dumb dinner over with?" I asked. "Take a seat, El. I have to set the table."

"No big, I can help," Elliott said. I smiled, I knew what he was trying to do. And I could tell it was working. He was scoring points and this time it wasn't with me. He and I brought the plates and silverware into the dinning room. My parents followed with my mom's special lemon coated turkey, baked potatoes, buttered cheese biscuits and a salad. My mom was really going all out for this one.

Elliott and I sat oppsite my parents at the table. It was silent as everyone piled their plate with food. Usually, I would pig out and not care what my parents said but this was more a big deal for them then me.

"So, Elliott, how do you and Nate manage just the two of you?" Dad asked casually.

"Dad!" I set down my fork and looked at him in disbelief.

"It's okay," Elliott said beside me. "I don't mind talking about that." He paused before continuing. "The house was paid for so Nate pays for water, phone and heat and I pay for electic, internet and TV."

"Sounds very responsible," Mom noted. Another point for Elliott.

"And I have a steady job after a few years I plan to go back to school to study home architecture," he told them. "I know Stevie wants to be a kindergarden teacher and I fully support her." Point for me.

"Have you ever been to jail?"

"Dad!"

"Drugs?"

"Michael!" I covered my face with my hands. This was what I was afraid of. Dad was never one to show mercy when interrigating my boyfriends. Lucky for me, Elliott just smiled and answered his questions.

"I spent one night in jail when I was a little wild in high school. My friends and I teeped the whole school as a prank and we got caught. I drink and smoke every once in a while but not often," he said. My parents glanced at each other unsure. No point.

My dad held off on the questions. We ate in silence with the clatter of knieves and forks. I took a sip from my water. Elliott looked calm. His eyes looked a deep blue in our dimly lit dinning room. He took my hand and I twisted my fingers into his.

My parents didn't ask any more but did try to make small talk. As we finished up, Elliott and I helped my parents clear the table. Elliott even insisted they go relax. He muttered a spell and the dishes foamed and evaporated making them squeaky clean.

"I think we have a few minutes to ourselves," Elliott said as I sat on the island. "How do you think I did?"

"I think you over did it with the occasional smoke and drinking," I said laughing. He wrapped his arms around my waist.

"At least I didn't say I'm a pot dealer on the side," he said with a smile.

"You're so bad." We both smiled and leaned into kiss. Anna bounced in already yapping away. She came to a dead halt and spun around shielding her eyes.

"Sorry, romantus interuptus," she spluttered. She dashed out and we laughed. He backed up so I could hop off to walk him to the door.

"So I take it girl time is in order tonight?" he asked as I opened the door.

"Yeah, sorry, unless you want to come in and join."

"Well-"

"Forget I offered."

Maria and I went down to the basement to hang in the den to watch movies and catch up. In order for her to understand my journey since I got here, I had to tell her about the mythical world and what I really was. Her eyes were wide with interest and curiosity.

"Whoa," she said in awe. "You have been busy. And the Five are natural elements."

"That's what it looks like," I said. "But I have no clue when they'll send their last beast after us or when they'll come to destroy us. We have to prove we're not a threat to anyone."

"Count me in as a witness." I thanked her and went up stairs to fetch extra blankets in my closet. As I opened the door and stepped inside, the door shut behind me and a hand clapped over my mouth to prevent me from screaming. I grabbed the arm and fidgeted in his head lock.

"Shh, don't scream," he whispered in my ear. It was Jaime. How the hell did he get in here? "We need to finish our talk." He let me go.

"You do realize my boyfriend lives next door?" I said stepping away from him. "What don't you understand from I don't want to talk to you. How the hell did you get in here anyway?"

"We need to talk, I love you."

"Don't you dare use that word with me!" I hissed. "You have no right to say you love me! You cheated on me with my best friend. You think it's something I won't forget? Get out of my house before I call the cops."

"Will you shut up and let me talk?"

"You shut up. I don't want to listen to you!"

"Stevie-"

"I'll give you three seconds."

"I want to make things right-"

"One."

"I know what I did is wrong-"

"Two," I said nearing my window and opened it. I wasn't going to call the cops but I was planning on calling Elliott, his wrath was probably worse then any cop out there. Jaime didn't continue and he walked over to my window. He slid out without a word. I shut my window and locked it. I grabbed the blankets from my closet and headed back down the stairs.

I didn't mention to Maria about Jaime's creepy visit. There was some things I couldn't share with her. If things eventually got out of hand, I'm pretty sure Elliott would gladly take care of it. Maria talked into the well hours of the morning and woke up in the late moring. I found a good morning text from Elliott.

"Have you and Elliott-"

"No," I told Maria. "There hasn't really been a great time for that."

"I can tell he loves you, Stevie."

"And I love him."

"Does he know it?"

"He does."


	30. Myth

We went up stairs to have breakfast with my parents. My mom had made French toast with scrambled eggs and sausage. My parents asked Maria about back home and her parents.

Then we went up stairs so I could show her my room. Luckily, Jaime wasn't there like last night. She looked around and finally sat on my bed. I wanted to offer things to do but Old Passage wasn't exactly a vacation spot or had much to offer.

"So, what can you and your sister do?" she asked crossing her legs.

"It's something called channeling," I told her. "We can hear each other's thoughts and see what what we see. That's all we could do so far."

"What about your friends? What are they?

"A nymph, a vila, a witch, a daemon."

"That's amazing, all of you. And to think they're just myths, stories told, you know?" she said thoughtfully.

"They're not just myths, Maria," I said. I paused thinking for the right words to say. "These myths tell us who we are."

"Wow. This all great but I think we should find something to do in this little town of yours. Like find a club or something?"

"I can find something."

I called Thalia to see if she knew any club near by. She said there was one in Greenwood a couple blocks from the community college. I invited her along which she agreed to join. I asked if she would ask Nora. I didn't trust myself calling her with out getting into some kind of shouting match over the phone. I took Maria in the mean time to the mall until later on tonight.

She asked a few more questions about the whole mythical world and I tried answering the as much as I could. She found an outfit to wear. I had something in my closet so I just watched her try on clothes.

As I texted Elliott with tonight's plans, I saw Maria stepped out of the dressing room. She glanced in the mirror and picked up her hair to see if the outfit convinced her into buying it.

"Is Elliott going?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just texted him our plans."

She tried on a few more outfits and finally bought a beaded black top. We headed back home and on our way picked up some fast food. We got ready as it started to get dark out. I slipped into some leather pants and a deep green one shouldered shirt. I let my hair as it was.

I would have invited Sam and my sister but they were too young to enter the club. I had no word from Nora if she would join us or not. I figured she wouldn't because of her hatred of me. Around eight, there was a knock at the door down stairs.

"Stevie!" Anna shouted up the stairs. "Some good looking guy is here to see you!" To no surprise, it was Elliott. He was in jeans and a gray flannel shirt was under his leather jacket.

"Ready to go?" he asked as we came down the stairs.

"Of course," I said. The three of us stepped on outside and I saw Gavin's car with him inside along with Nora and Thalia. We followed him to the club. I wouldn't exactly call it a club it was more like a pub with music slightly booming but not enough to shake the building.

Thalia and Gavin drifted off disappearing behind a small crowd. Elliott lead the way to find a table. I slid in beside him in a booth and Maria and Nora sat opposite us. Nora had a tight little dress and her face was mopped off from the usual black makeup she had on. Some how she looked a little magical with a clean face.

"Oh no," Maria said her eyes widening.

The three of us looked at what she was looking at and I couldn't agree more. Near the bar, I saw Jaime talking to the female bar tender. How the hell did he keep on finding me? I basically told him to leave my life and you'd think I told him that I was playing hard to get it.

"Just ignore him," I muttered. Elliott slung his arm over my shoulders keeping an eye on Jaime from a far. Nora went off to find a dance partner with out looking back.

"You'd think she was over us by now," I muttered so only Elliott could hear.

"I told you she wasn't a force to be reckoned with," he said with a half smile. "I'll get us some drinks." He got up and went over to the bar toward Jaime.

"That doesn't look good," Maria said anxiously staring after Elliott.

"He can take care of himself," I said. "Besides I think you got a potential dance partner over there." I nodded behind her and she turned. A guy was leaning on the wall his eyes on Maria, once she spotted him he walked over.

"What do I do!"

"Meet him half way!"

Maria scrambled to her feet and walked over to him. The guy smiled and they began to talk. I looked over to see what was keeping Elliott. I saw him talking to Jaime. Jaime did not look pleased with what Elliott was saying. Jaime said a few words and both guys looked over to me. Elliott said something and walked back to me.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"Nothing," he siad. "I just told him you were spoken for."

After we had our drinks, I pulled out Elliott to the dance floor. He wasn't really up for it. I wrapped his arms around my hips as we swayed to the music.

"See, is that so bad?" I asked over the music my hands on his shoulders. He pulled me closer to close the space in between us. I smiled and just danced. I spotted Thalia and Gavin not so far off in their own world of their own. No one exsisted on the dance floor except them.

"I see trouble," Elliott said still swaying looking over my head.

I looked over my shoulder to see Jaime yanking Maria out of the pub. Maria was trying to release herself from Jaime's grip but he just dragged her along as if she were a child. They were heading to the back door.

"Come on," he siad. We stopped dancing and hurried along to catch up. I yanked open the door just in time to see Jaime pushing Maria against the wall. Elliott took a step in front of me waving his hand, Jaime flew back hitting the building. Then there was a terrible ripping sound and Jaime was on Elliott fangs inches from his neck.

_Anna, help! Help me! Channel me some power, someting, anything!_

_ I don't know how. What's going on?_

I rushed forward and tried to push Jaime off of Elliott. Jaime pushed me aside with ease and I hit the ground. It gave Elliott enough of a distraction to slip from under him. He flung him to the green rusty dumpster. The door slammed opened behind me and Nora, Gavin and Thalia came out. Jaime's eyes were wild and with another terrible rip he was gone. I gazed over to Elliott to see if he was okay. His eyes were glowed grey as he drew together magic and they were just as wild as Jaime's. And it scared me.

* * *

Author's Note: Hello all my wonderful readers! I hope you all started the year right & school is going well. I officially start my spring semester tomorow. You all know school is demanding and takes up much time. I apologize in advance if I go days without uploading but I will try and make time to continue and update a chapter per day as I have. Bear with me, please. I hope you continue to read future chapters!

Heights93


	31. Betray, Trust, Love

"What the helll was that?" Nora asked.

"A dhapmir," Thalia said. Gavin came forward and helped me to my feet. I burshed myself off. Elliott was still staring off on the path Jaime had taken.

"A what?" I asked.

"A species in between a human and a vampire," Maria said quietly. I looked over at her surprised. I thought she didn't know about mythical world.

Thalia nodded. "They feed off of a human substance, some feed off dreams, others on emotion but this one feeds on blood." My heart started to race, he feed on blood. I walked over to Maria and brushed her hair aside. She had two small bite mark leaking blood from her neck.

"You were with him on this weren't you?" I asked. "Since you got here."

"He made me," she pleaded her eyes filling with tears. "He wanted to come and see you and when we got here he wanted me to find out about your friends he knew they weren't human, not really."

"You stabbed me in the back."

"I'm sorry, Stevie. He's been making me his human blood bag after he left Ashlee."

"You sold me out!" I shouted angrily. "I'd rather die then betray my friends." First it was Ashlee, sneaking around with my boyfriend who by the way is a blood sucker and now Maria sold out my secrets to him.

"I'm sorry," she said her voice giving way. Nora said something about tracking down Jaime and Gavin followed. Thalia and Elliott stayed behind to referee. I wanted to forgive her but I couldn't not today. Not tomorow. "He said he'd kill me, Steves!"

"Funny, you didn't seem to hear me. I would rather die then betray my friends especially with the stuff I told you about me. Then again, you didn't sell Jaime out," I said coldly. I walked away from her. Thalia lightly touched my shoulder and we walked around the building. Elliott followed a second later.

"I cast a spell over her so she'd go home tonight, she'll be safer without Jaime on her tail," Elliott said. We got to our cars and waited for Nora and Gavin to return. I leaned on the car still pissed at the thought that two of my former best friends betrayed me for that guy. Thalia looked up at the sky as if expecting for the stars to give her all the answers. Elliott stood beside me with his arms crossed on his guard for Jaime.

I heard the clatter of a pair of heels and Nora and Gavin appeared from the darkness. Thalia breathed and rushed forward into his arms.

"He got away," Nora said. "Rotten mesquito."

"How did you ever get mixed up with a dhampir?" Gavin asked.

"I didn't know he was one until tonight," I said.

"Best case scenerio he fled town," Elliott said. "Worst case, I kick his ass." I glared at him and he shrugged raising his hands. I was in no mood for his smart remarks tonight. "I'll patrol the area for a few minutes to see if I can catch him. Wanna ride along?" He glanced over at Nora. She beamed and nodded ready for action. "Creed, take her home and stay with her, please."

"You got it, Ames."

Elliott straightened pushing himself off his car. He came in front of me to make me look at him. "Hey, look at me," he said. I looked up to meet his eyes. His eyes still glowed grey meaning he was still beyond angry and his magic was at it's peak. They were as menacing as Nate's and I knew he was taking a lot more seriously than I was. "I'll get him." He kissed my lips and he went around to get in the drivers seat.

I took a step forward so Nora could pass through. I expected her to wear a smile or some sort of glee and she did at first. But then it faded into a sorrow frown. She grabbed my arm.

"I'm sorry about your friend," she said sincerely. "I wouldn't do that to you and I don't even like you." She got in the car before I could say another word. Gavin drove me to my house and seeing that it was only ten, and fairly early they agreed to stay for about an hour until Elliott arrived.

They tried cheering me up which I appreciated I just felt so down about being betrayed once more by someone who was close to me. I sat in between Thalia and Gavin my chin resting on my knees.

"You know we would never do that to you," Gavin said rubbing m arm. "You got to understand-"

"I do understand, I know," I mumbled. "I just don't want to forgive right now. But thanks, you guys have been nothing but kind to me since I got here. Both of you."

"You're one of us," Thalia said hugging me. "Someone has to have your back besides Anna."

"And why am I not counted in this circle of trust?" came some one from the door way. The three of us looked up to Elliott standing in the door way. He looked tired but pleased to be here. "You know, I was kind of suprised your parents let me in throug the front door." Gavin and Thalia gave me one last round of hugs, wished me good night and left my room.

He walked into my room and squatted in front of me. Elliott shoved a handful of hair behind my ear. "I didn't get him, Steves, I'm sorry," he said.

"It's okay," I said with a shrug. "That doesn't matter to me as much."

"Maria bothered you," he stated.

"Two of my former best friends screwing me over for Jaime is what bothers me."

He sighed and nodded in understanding. Elliott pushed down my knees and crawled over to lay his head on my lap. I raked my fingers through his hair. His eyes had returned to their original color. I was glad he was back to normal. His peacefulness slowly creeped up on me as I countied to go through his hair.

I wanted to say something to lighten the mood or make him smile but it didn't feel right. He may not be the most romantic yet neither was I, he was snarky so was I, and he was the last person I suspected to have such a kind side.

He grabbed my hand and kissed my finger tips. I kept on combing his hair with my fingers until his eyes closed and there was a rhythm when his chest rose and fell. Before I knew it I had dozed off and fell asleep. I don't know what time it was when Elliott picked me up to tuck me into bed.

"Elliott?" I whispered. I shut my eyes because of the blinding light. I heard a faint click to signal the lights had been turned off.

"Hey, I'm right here," I heard him say. "I'm not going any where, ever." I could feel my lips form a small smile, I liked the sound of that. I felt my bed shift as he climbed into bed. His warm heat made it easy for me to fall back asleep.


	32. Being Anna

I woke up Sunday morning with Elliott stll beside me. He lay quite still meaning he was still fast asleep. Despite myself, I smiled like an idiot. Still feeling slightly tired, I cuddled in closer. I shut my eyes and sighed happily.

A few seconds later, I heard someon come in. He and I weren't fast enough to escape. My mom walked in with a basket. "Stevie, do you have any dirty laundry-" She came to a stop when she saw me and Elliott in my bed. "Stevie-"

"Mom," I breathed. Elliott dove for his shirt beside my bed. "It's not what it looks like, we were just sleeping."

"_Dimittite et obliviscaris_!" My mom face changed from anger to a blank state. She stood their for a second. "Go, you saw nothing." My mom turned and left my room with out a word. The door shut behind her and I turned to see him.

"You shouldn't have done that," I said.

"And rish your dad with guns blazing, no thanks," he said. "I'll just have to be careful next time." Elliott strode over to the window and slid out with out another word. I stepped out of my room a few minutes later and Elliott's spell had worked. My mom didn't say a thing much less mentioned his name.

When Anna asked about Maria, I just told her we got into a fight that involved Jaime and she left it alone. I think she had a good idea with what happened. I think she was channeling trying to figure out what happened. I must have been channeling sadness and anger because she hugged me for no apparent reason and I let her.

The next few days Nora was rather nice to me and almost careful the way she treated me. I knew she meant well but I wanted to be like how we first met. No awkwardness, no nasty glares thrown, just mutual friends. Thalia and Gavin were great. I don't know how I got such great friends like them. Sometimes I'd hang with Thalia, other times with Gavin but I liked it best when it was all three of us.

And there was the case of Jaime. I knew he disappeared but there was no way I imagined him to have left. He was lurking out there some where. March turned into April and we only had one month of school left. Break couldn't come fast enough.

Nora and I sat in the caf doing homework. We did that now on a daily basis sitting on the same table working in silence. Sometimes she looked at me in pity which irritated the hell out of me. I didn't want her pity. We had our books, notebooks and notes all over the table without a bother.

"Stevie?" Nora asked.

"Hmm?"

"I want to apologize for being harsh on you about Elliott," she began setting down her pencil to look up at me.

"Don't really-"

"You and Elliott fit in like a puzzle," she continued. "You fill in each other's empty spaces and once you connect it's like an epic story being told. You make him a better person, Stevie even though he doesn't know it. And he keeps you a strong, he's like you anchor, right? And I didn't get it until that night with Maria and Jaime. Then I realized how can I break up something so- so magical. I really am sorry."

I smiled in gratitude at her kind words and she did the same. Then we returned in our stuides and that was it. Things were okay now. Finally.

We had two birthdays very close togeher. Anna'a and Sam's. And to no surprise Anna was planning another party with the condition I proposed of invitation only, we don't want another Chaser fiasco. Thalia and Gavin wouldn't make because Thalia's great aunt had died. It was hard on her because she saw it coming and couldn't do anything about it.

Elliott had refused the invitation saying he wasn't in a mood for partying. My sister turned to me in question but I had no answer. If Elliott didn't feel like it, he had his mind set on not going. He got her a present and made me deliver it. I had decided to split my time with the party then I'd go see Elliott.

Anna and I were getting ready for the party in my room. I had chosen jeans and an old black X-Men t-shirt with my converse. I didn't want to dress up if I was going to leave next door to Elliott's. Anna was standing infront of the mirror primping herself up. She wore a white dress with a black waist band and random black pocket dots on the dress. Her hair was straight tonight so if you caught us from behind, it would be hard to guees if were Anna or me.

"You know I'd like to get ready too," I said crossing my arms and legs impatiently. I looked out of my window to see Elliott's dark room. I wondered what he was doing if he wasn't in his room. I got up and she moved out of the way. I moved forward to begin making myself presentable.

"How do I look?" Anna asked twirling around once and struck a pose with her hand on her hip. She looked so much like me except in the eyes of course and her make up choice.

"Beautiful, if I do say so myself," I said. She rolled her eyes and mocked me. I laughed. "Me?"

"As ordinary and gorgeous as your beautiful sister."

"Clever."

We went down stairs to where the party had already began. We let Sam and Nora co-host the party until we were ready. Anna liked making entrances, no surprise. Once I was ready, I headed down stairs to where people were having a good time already. The guests were mostly in the back around near the bonfire. Afew coples were inside or girls chatting.

I walked outside and greeted my sisters friends with smiles, hugs and hand shakes. I found the girls flirting with guys near the snack table.

"Birthday girl," said one of the guys happily. "I've got a special present for you after everyone leaves."

Sam started giggling and Nora raised an eyebrow with a smirk. I grinned and took his drink and drank it all. Might as well play the part.

"For me?" I asked batting my eye lashes like I've seen Anna do it hundreds of times. "You shouldn't have."

"Only the best for you."

"Well, I'm sure Stevie would _love_ to know about this so called present."

His friend nudged him in encouragement and then he looked around trying to look for me. Sam and Anna tried to contain their laughter. "Where is she?"

"You're looking at her dibshit," Nora said laughing.

"And good night," I said. I slapped his cheek gently, spun around and walked off. I made my way back to the house to look for Anna. She was comming out of the house mingling with friends as she went. She spotted and we made eye contact.

_ Leaving already?_

_ Yeah, I'm not feeling it. If you need anything I'll be right next door._

_ Have fun._

_ You too._


	33. The Past & the Present

I walked across the lawn toward Elliott's house toward the back door. All the lights up stairs were off and I could see the lights on in the den. I knocked on the door to wait about ten seconds. Nate opened the door with a book in his hand.

"Oh, hey, you're here early," he said letting me in. "Didn't have fun at the party?"

"Not really," I said. "Where's Elliott?"

"He's lounging around in the living room," he said as we walked over to the living stopped in the arch way leading to the large room. The TV was on with some kind of old martial arts movie. Nate grinned down at me and walked over to the den. I made my way over.

Elliott was laying on the sofa with his legs propped up on the coffee table. A bag of chips was beside him and a beer in his right hand.

"So, this is what you'd rather do then hang out with your amazing girlfriend at a party?" I asked. I sat beside him and he looked at me surprised. "You know a high school kid hit on me tonight and where were you to defend my honor."

He smiled. "What can I say, that guy has great taste." We kissed softly and he pulled me onto his lap. I pulled away.

"Everything okay?" I asked. "You've been acting a bit distant lately."

"I'm fine," he said running his fingers through my hair.

"Do I need to remind you there's a lovesick high school kid out there who would gladly talk to me-"

"Fine, fine," he laughed. There was a brief pause and he grabbed my hand. "Next week is the week my parents died."

I gave his hand a squeeze.. It never crossed my mind that to ask him about the details on the accident. I never knew how to ask him but I knew it hurt him so.

"I'm sorry," I said. "If I would have known-"

"It's okay, you didn't know."

"But now I do and I'm here if you need me."

He smiled and kissed me again. I smiled underneath his kisses and I pulled away again.

"Quit doing that!" he groaned throwing back his head and laughed in frustration.

"I'm sorry!" I said amused. "I just want to know about your parents." He entwined his fingers in mine thinking. And he told me about them, a story at a time like camping trips, pee-wee soccer, dinners, and family get togethers. I could tell this pain was still raw in him. I lay my head on his chest listening to his stories and his heart beat.

"You're a good listener," he said sounding sleepy.

I smiled a little pulling his arm over me. "You're a good story teller."

"We got this nasty habit of sleeping together but nothing happens."

"Sorry, do you want me to leave?" I asked followed by his arms holding me tighter to him. A blanket soard into the living room and Elliott pulled it over me as I snuggled into his chest comfortably.

"No," he yawned. "Stay." I thought about Anna next door but I was far too tierd to get up again. I figured she had everyting handled. How much damage could a party fathom? She would have ran over if something happened. I fell asleep in a few minutes.

Nate woke me up the next day to let me know my parents were home. I jumped out of the sofa and hurried out of the living room.

"Whoa, wait, hold on a sec!" Nate said grabbing my arm. "Let me help so you won't get caught." We ran out the back and in between our houses. "Hold on." He cast a spell with a single word. I started to float and rise like I was on a balance beam trying to walk straight. I rose higher and higher until I reached my window. I opened it and propelled myself inside.

I felt the cast wear off and landed firmly on the ground of my room. I shut the window behind me. The house was quiet and relief washed oveer me. I was in the clear.

"Stevie!" Mom called. "Are you up?"

Panicked, I stripped down and flung a large t-shirt over my head then dived into my bed to pretend I was just waking up. In a matter of seconds, my mom's head popped into my room. I rubbed my eyes as convincingly as I could and yawned for emphasis.

"Yeah, mom?"

"I need you to do run a few errands, we're having you're dad's bosses over for lunch this afternoon," mom said. "Can you do that for me?"

"Sure thing." She closed the door and I sank back into my pillows relieved. I waited around a few more minutes to finally hop out of bed. As I opened the door to my room, I spotted a sheet of paper taped to it. It was my mom's list with what she needed. I hurried down the stairs pulling a sweatshirt over my head. I went to do her errands at the local grocery store a few blocks away.

I walked out of the store with two bags. Mind you, I wasn't fully awake so when I saw Jaime waiting by my car. I almost turned and walked away.

"Wait, Steves, wait," he said quickly grabbing my arm. "I want to talk to you."

"No, I don't want to listen to you," I said making my woice cold and sharp as I could. "Elliott will show up in two seconds if you don't leave."

"Will you stop being so stubborn and listen to me?" he demanded.

"Why can't you take a hint and leave me the hell alone!" I got in my car and drove off. When I checked my rear view mirror, he was gone. He had better left town before I decided to tell Elliott and the others.

To my unfortunate luck, I was stuck at home with my parents and the other adults that had come to lunch. Anna wasn't thrilled about it either but I knew she wasn't feeling that great with a hung over from yesterday's party. We spoke telepathecally at the table.

_How was the party?_

_It was great!_ She was bursting with happiness and her emotion was infectious.

_ Oh yeah? _

_ I hooked up with someone._

_Who?_ I couldn't help feel a little worried.

_ Don't worry he's deffinately not a Chaser or a mythical creature._

_It better not be the guy that hit on me thinking it was you._

_ What!_

I laughed despite myself and my parents looked at me concerned and nervous as the company chairman looked at me surprised. I smiled apologetically at them and took a sip from my water. We continued on with our conversation.

_ I saw Jaime today at the store._

_ I thought he disappeared._

_ He was or is. I wish he'd just levae us alone. He's dangerous, you know. He's a dhampir, Anna. How did I not see this before?_

_ You loved him, Steves._

_ I shouldn't have._

_ But you did, at one point. And now you're with Elliott. Let the past be the past._

My sister was right for once. I couldn't have possibly seen this coming. Back then I was stupid, I thought he was the right guy for me but perhaps I just liked the idea of love like any high school girl. That was then and Elliott was my now. I could never regret that, ever.

I did my best to be with Ellliott, be patient with his tornadoe of emotions and have him distracted as much as possible. It proved to be hard to be but with the help of Gavin it wasn't so hard. Gavin was able to reach to Elliott in ways I couldn't because Gavin knew the pain of loosing a parent. From that point on, Elliott had some respect for Gavin, all of a sudden they were equals.


	34. The Higher Holidays

Toward the end of the week, I tagged along with him to the cemetary across town. There was a small two hundred year old chapel with some kind of historical signifigance. The metal gates moaned when we passed through. The clouds were gray threatning to let loose the water they were holding up above.

We navigated our way throught the lines of tomb stones. Some were massive according to the family plot others much smaller in size which looked like pebbles in comparison. I didn't recognized as many names as I thought I would have. I trailed after him giving him space at this kind of vunerable state.

He stopped at a regular sized tomb stone. Elliott got to his knees on the cold grass. I saw him set a white flower for each of his parents. He sat there for a while muttering, he was talking to them. I moved in closer to stnad behind him. Then I crouched beside him putting an arm around him and resting my head on his shoulder.

"I haven't been here since the funeral," Elliott said. "I was always too afraid to come back."

"Will you be okay?"

"I just wanna be here a few minutes."

"Take your time."

I stood up straight and took a few steps back. Looking around, I could see squirrels flying from tree to tree chasing each other in a game of tag. Some stopped in curiosity on the branches and gazed down at us before leaping away. Spring was nice here in Old Passage, I was really enjoying the suuny cold weather. I spotted a rather large fox. It looked over here curiously and intense like a preditor ready to pounce. Slowly, it neared us and I saw a mark on the it's tail. My eyes widened in recognition.

It trotted off into a run nearing us. It gained speed and I saw it was heading straight for Elliott on the grass. It's eyes flashed a dangerous gray.

"Watch out!" I yelled tackling him to the ground and I felt a tiny pair teeth sink into my left shoulder. I yelled out followed by a familiar ripping sound. The fox was torn away from my flesh and I instantly grabbed it feeling a horrible burning sensation.

"Stevie!" I heard Elliott gasp alarmed. In the back round, I could hear the fox whimper and then it was silent. The burning sensation passed into a warm tingling sensation and I opened my eyes. Elliott was kneeling to my left. His eyes were filled with confusion and alarm. "Let me look at your shoulder."

I took off my sweater and moved my t-shrt aside. Two tiny holes were on my shoulder where blood started leaking out. A few feet away I saw Jaime rise to his feet wiping his mouth from blood. He had drained the fox. It's lifeless body lay near a tomb stone on the grass.

"Vegitarian isn't really my style," Jaime said with a shrug."You okay?"

"Were you following me?" I asked annoyed.

"I just saved your life. That thing had the Five's crest on it's tail.

Elliott helped me up to my feet. He put my arm around his neck and he wrapped an arm around my waist. My upper arm felt sore as I had laid on my arm the entire day. We walked past him and the bloodless fox on the ground.

"Wait!" Jaime called. "I know about your problem, with the Five coming after you and all."

I stopped and Elliott looked at me his eye brows together in question. We turned to face him. Blood was splattered down his front and his gray eyes were changing back to blue meaning the blood lust was over. "I don't want to talk about anything with you."

"I'll leave if you listen to me," Jaime said. "I promise, just hear me out, please. I'll go away and you'll never see me again. I'm telling you because I love you."

Elliott left my side and advanced on him. Jaime's eyes flashed dangerously ready to fight Elliott. I grabbed my aching arm. I wanted to stop them but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Stop it, both of you," I demanded.

Elliott looked over his shoulder to me. "Can I hit him now?"

"Do you know what June 21st is?" he asked. Besides the middle of summer, I had no idea what it meant. I wasn't sure at what he was getting at but I'm sure he was going to tell me anyway.

"It's the first day of the summer, the longest day of the year and the Summer solstice," Jaime said. "The Higher Holidays, that's what it's called in our world."

"I've heard of them," Elliott siad slowly. "It's when witches can perform larger quantities of magic because of the moon's positioning up in the sky."

"It's not just some witchy holiday for voodoo," he said. "It's a powerful day for all sorts of magical creatures including the Five. I'm willing to bet anyting they'll come then. They'll be very powerful on that day just like anyone else." With another horrible rip, Jaime disappeared and we were alone in the grave yard.

Elliott drove me back home. I sat in the passenger seat trying not to move my arm. It had stopped bleading but my arm was sore. Elliott hadn't said anything since we got into his car, Jaime's words must have gotten to him. No matter how much I didn't want to believe him, I had a terrible feeling he was right.

My phone rang and Elliott made a grab for it before I had time to even react.

"Hello?" he asked.

There was a pause

"Whoa, Sam slow down! You're going way too fast. I'll be there in a few minutes, okay?'

There was shorter pause and he hung up.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"We're going to find out." We parked in his drive way and we went to Sam's house across the street. She let us and we followed. Her brown eyes were huge with worry. She pushed the door open to her room. Her room was rather plain with white walls, furniture and no other color besides the clothes in her white closet. I felt like I was in a hospital or psych ward. On her bed was Anna clutching her left shoulder.

Her hazel eyes found mine and I understood what happened. Our tethered doppelganger bond made her feel my pain. I walked over to her and sat on the bed.

"I figured it was you," she said with a hint of resentment.

"You nearly scared the hell out of me," Sam mumbled from behind. I showed her the bite and she winced.

"What happened?" Anna asked.

"It was the last beast and it bit me," I told her. "But it's gone. Jaime sucked it clean."

"Jaime?" Anna asked her eyes widening.

"He said the Five are coming during the Higher Holidays," Elliott said from the door. Sam's eyes got bigger in fear, obviously we didn't have to explain to her about the signifigance of that particular holiday, she knew.

"But that's like in two months," she said. "We have to tell the others."

"We will."


	35. Mercy

Sam and Elliott took us home and made sure we were getting bed rest while they went off to tell the others. Mom and Dad would be home any minute and I didn't exactly want to tell them what had happened. I couldn't exactly tell them the Five possesed a fox to bite me, could I? I stood in front of the bathroom cleaning my wound and putting on a bandage. My arm was fine for the most part.

I walked over to Anna who was lying on the bed. She turned around to face me. I walked over and sat on her bed.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"If you mean my arm and shoulder yeah, I'm fine," she said looking up at the ceiling. "I just want to rest."

I sat their quietly rubbing her back until she closed her eyes. She lay on her stomach and all I could hear was her breathing.

_ I wish you didn't channel that to me._

_ Sorry._

_ Well, at least now I know if you're ever in trouble._

_ True._

_ Wake me up for dinner?_

_ Okay._

After a few days, the tiny marks disappeared and my arm felt the same and Anna was still a little shaken. She stayed cleared from my find so I felt her farther away more than usual. I wondered how much I channeled to her. Did I channel the pain? The fear? The worry?

Once Gavin, Thalia and Nora found out what happened it shook them up too. The whole Higher Holidays shook them, it scared us all. I had never even heard of them until now. I figured dark magical things went on during those times which I found hard to imagine. Nice, warm sunny days were not usually on my top ten list of most frightning.

"It's not a dark holiday," Nora said hastily the first few days of May. "It's just a conotation because some people like using it to their advantage and pull some stuff off."

"What kind of stuff do they pull off?" I asked. She and I were sitting in the caf one afternoon having lunch. She poked at her salad a little hesitant before continuing on with her 'higher-holidays-isn't-so-bad' crusade.

"Well, there was the great fire in Moscow in 1547, a pension advisor was wounded in 1672 but there's alot of good stuff about it too like inventions, battles won."

"Well that's great to know," I said. She rattled off more events in history good and bad. No matter how much I wanted to listen my head was pounding. Ever had those head aches were all you can hear is the blood pumping through your veins? And the pain that omes along with it? That's how I was feeling. It's been like that these past couple of days.

"Are you tuning me out?"Nora asked snapping me out of it.

"No, sorry, I just got this bad head ache," I said standing leaving my untouched food at the table. "I'm heading home. See you."

"Bye."

I grabbed my bag and left the caf my head still ponding. As I turned I ran into someone. I looked up to see Gavin and Thalia.

"Hey, heading home already?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah, not feeling too good," I said shouldering my bag. "Might not go to work if this head ache keeps it up."

"Okay, just let me know. Text you later to see how you're doing," she said.

"Feel better," Gavin said. I walked past them and out of the building to my car. I drove home in one piece I went up to the bathroom to find an asprin or something to relieve me from my headache. I took two pills and went back down stairs to the kitchen to make myself something to eat.

After I ate, I called work to tell them I wouldn't go in today. About two hours later, Sam and Anna got home. I laid on the sofa just resting and looking up at the ceiling. Anna walked into the living room and jumped when she saw me.

"Hi," she said setting down her things. "I thought you'd be at work."

"My head hurts so I decided to stay home today," I said. Sam bounced on over and sat on the sofa scouching me further placed a hand on my forehead.

"Wow, you're burning up," she said. "Take a cold shower and take a nap." It wasn't a suggestion, she was using her powers. A spark ignited in my insides at her words that wanted me to obey her.

"Okay," I said. I got up and hurried up the stairs I grabbed some sweats and hurried into the bathroom.

"You're welcome!" she yelled from down stairs.

I took a quick shower, and before I could even shiver in response to the cold I made a bee line to my room and dived under the sheets. I got comfortable and shut my eyes. I fell asleep and when I woke up when it was dark out. The head ache was gone and I felt much better.

I had a few text messages from my friends asking how I was. I responded and once I sent out the last message I saw my window open. A white bag made it's way over to me until I took it into my hands. The aroma filled my whole room with fries and burgers. Elliott came in feet first shutting the window behind him.

"Hey, I heard you were a tiny bit sick," Elliott said. He strode over to my bed, sat down in front of me crossed legged and we kissed. "Dinner curtusy of Seventh Street Diner. How are you feeling, Steves?"

"Better actually," I said taking out the burger and fries from the bag. He pulled out his order of wings. He snatched a couple fries from my pile. "Thanks for dinner."

"What wouldn't I do for you?" he said with a shrug. I smiled. We ate together talking and laughing in my room. My parents were still down stairs even though they were bound to check on me sooner or later so we were on the alert just in case. "Listen, I'm letting Nate in on with what's happening."

"Why?" I asked curious.

"Well, he may not be part of the assembly but he's too closely associated with us and the Five will probably be after him. And we could probably use his help in the long run," he said taking my hands in his. "You should probably rest some more. I'll swing by to drive you to school."

"Mmm, suddenly you're hot all over again."

"Whoa," he said laughing. "I have never been not hot, babe. For that I think you deserve a punishment." We wrestled in my bed laughing and squirming. So much for rest. He pinned me down looking at me straight in the eyes.

"Do you surrender or should I make you beg for mercy?" he asked playfully.

"You? Merciful?" I shrieked in amusement. "You're funny, Ames."

"You'll be the only exception."

He chuckled and kissed my lips either way. He stayed a while longer before he actally let me rest. But now I was feeling wide awake. I lay in bed tossing and turning about an hour later, I was knocked out.


	36. Battle Strategy

I headed to school and work with out a problem. But the day felt extremely long, seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours and hours into days. Thalia was on her shift when I got to work. She looked happy to see me as I approached.

"You look better," she said brightly.

"Feel it too."

"I had a vision last night," she said gazing around the empty diner. An old couple was sitting at a booth enjoying their soup, a man sat at a table drinking coffee and that was it for now. "It was about Gavin."

"What'd you see?" I asked wiping the counter. She looked slightly nervous.

"I saw him hurt," she breathed her eyes threatning to spill over tears. "There was a large slash cutting him open." She pointed to her shoulder and showed the track of the slash all the way down toward her hip. "I think it's about the Five, when they get here. I'm scared Steves, all of my visions come true, always."

"Calm down," I said as soothingly as I could. It's not like it didn't scare me too. I would never wish harm to come to Gavin. "Maybe it will happen but he'll survive, someone will save him. Gavin's tough. He would never leave you. Nothing in the world would make him leave you."

She looked at me her eyes big with concern and worry with what she saw. It must be hard seeing Gavin like that even if it wasn't real, yet. But we couldn't just let panic control our decisions, we had to come up with something together as a group, as the assembly we are.

Thalia agreed and ordered an assembly meeting, which included Nate, Anna and Jaime if he showed. We all met up in the abadnonded house one Thursday. Nate and Elliott stood near the door as if to jump any one that dared come through the door. I stood beside Thalia with my arms crossed. Sam sat on the ground with Anna. Gavin leaned on the wall looking at his nails faking interest. The only sound was from my sister sniffling and coughing.

Again we were only waiting for Nora. I wanted to cut her some slack but this was important. We were already well on our way into May and the days were getting longer and longer and the weather was getting warmer. It'd be only a matter of weeks until the Higher Holidays, some of us were on edge right about now. Nora strutted into the house. She leaned on a wall opposite Gavin.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, I think we should talk about what we should do if the Five really do try anf finish us off," Thalia said.

"I don't know about you but I plan on bailing as far as I can," Nora cut in.

"Not all of us have that liberty," Gavin mumbled.

"Not my fault, is it?"

"Shut up, Nora," Elliott snapped angrily.

"We're gonna prove we're not a threat," Thalia demanded.

"We can't exactly do that when they're slicing our throats."

"No one's getting sliced!"

Thalia looked exasperarted with Nora's negativity. Nora was the opposite, she looked ready to shoot down any possibility that would be suggested today. I wished Nora wouldn't be so complicated, she wasn't exactly calming our nerves.

"Or," Nate said from his position. "There's eight of us and five of them. We can have two rows one front and back to cover the person they're guarding."

"Not Thalia," Gavin said at once. "She has to be protected." Thalia's eyes looked dangerous at her boyfriend, the most dangerous I've ever seen them toward Gavin. Her mind was set on joining and not even Gavin could stop her.

"I can form shields," she protested. "And send some telekentic blows!"

"No," Gavin said.

"As much I want to know how this arguements ends, I don't want to stay here and face them," Nora siad.

"Nora," Elliott said irritated, his teeth together. "Can't you for others then just yourself?"

"Self preservation, Ames," Nora said her nose in the air.

"Nora-," Sam began.

"No," Nora said stomping her foot. She dashed out and no one went after her. We just heard her huff off. It was quiet for a second before someone spoke again. We all figured Nora would come around, she was just scared. Typical Nora behavior.

"Who will it be in the front row?" Thalia asked.

"Me," Elliott said at once. "Stevie can go behind me."

"No. I want to be up front too with Anna covering me." It was my turn to recieve his angry glare. "One of us will be on the defense the other on the offense."

"Then I'll be up front too and you can be in the back," Gavin said talking more to Thalia then to us. She nodded happy to be included in the battle plan.

"Fine," Elliott said. "Sam?" He looked at her on the ground. She smiled a little and nodded agreeing to be in the back. I already knew they would make a fierce team. So that left Nate with Nora. We made the decision that either of them could be in front. Another fierce team. The pairs agreed to practice and we all left.

We walked out of the abandoned house to be greeeted by a warm spring sun. Nate walked back to his house as Sam and Anna went to go find Nora anf fill her in. Thalia, Gavin, Elliott and I walked back to my house. The four of us were still talking about battle strategy.

"Alright, listen, well I got to go do fix a few things at home, keep me posted,"Gavin said when we reached my drive way. Thalia let him lead her down to her car waving at us. Elliott raised a hand in farewell. I rubbed my temples feeling the ponding in my head all over again.

"You alright?" Elliott asked me.

"Just another head ache," I said.

"You wanna go lay down for a while?"

"No, I'm fine."

"You sure?" he asked eyeing me carefully. I nodded. I didn't want him to worry. Anna was already sick and I was probably just catching what ever she had. He kissed my lips and we headed out to the park to hang out trying to forget the gloom and doom hovering over our heads.

The closer we got to the end of May the closer finals came and we would be let out for summer break. Normally, I would be beyond excited but knowing what would be up ahead in a few weeks I wasn't exactly thrilled. Not to mention, Anna and I kept on getting sicker. I had headaches and fevers while Anna had nasal congestion and a horrible cough.

Why were we so sick all of a sudden? It was stronger then any other illness I had recovered from. I spent a lot of my time sleeping and trying to feel better and be able to function before the week of finals.

"This thing feels chronic!" I said one night as Elliott had come in to see me. "I feel like it's eating me away."

"All colds are like that," he said sitting on my bed.

"Then why is Anna sick too?" I asked.

"You guys live together probably caught it."

"What about my parents? And you?"

"When did you start getting sick?" he asked his eye brows coming together. He knew what I was trying to say. I shifted in my pillows.

"After the fox bit me."

"So, what you think it was the Five?" he asked. I sat up to look at him better. I nodded. He thought about it for a second and grabbed my hand. "After finals, I'll swing by during my lunch to examine you, okay? Perform a few spells to see what's wrong."


	37. So Sick

Sick and all, I headed to school to take my finals. I felt utterly sick and Thalia was kind enough to take me to school. They mostly Elliott didn't think I was capable of driving or something. Then after Gavin drove me home on my way I told him my suspiscious of my sickness.

"Well, it's not that far fetched," Gavin said stopping in front of my house. "There are mythical illnesses out there. I mean prime example are the Middle Ages but for the Five to use that kind of warefare that's odd. Their powers are natuaral based not genetic."

I shrugged. He got out of his seat and hurried over to help me to the front door. No matter how much it annoyed me that he was helping out I knew was just being a kind friend. And most likely, Elliott told him to take care of me when he was at work. He walked me over to the door.

"Thanks for driving me home," I said as we sat on the porch. I leaned on his shoulder exhausted. "I could've driven myself."

"Elliott told me to keep an eye on you."

"Elliott?" I asked with a laugh and opening my eyes to look up at him. "He's not Ames anymore? I must be really sick."

"Don't tell him I called him by his first name," he scoffed with a smile.

I felt his cool hand on my forehead as Elliott pulled up to his house. He walked on over and Gavin stood to leave. Elliott came over with his hands on his pockets.

"Thanks for bringing her home, Creed."

"No problem, Ames. Feel better, Steves," Gavin said. Elliott and I watched him walk back to his car and drive off. We didn't speak until his car turned out of my street. I got up to my feet and nearly fell back down. Elliott caught me just in time.

"You don't look so good," he said worried. "Let's get you inside so I can see what's up."

He helped me over inside to my lonely house. He set me down on the couch were I could sit down. I laid down while he said something about getting a few materials. I shut my eyes and fell asleep for like two minutes. I awoke from the slam of the door. I opened my eyes.

"Elliott, I'm tierd," I muttered.

"I know, sweetheart, I know. Can you sit up?" He came over to sit by me. I sat up straight. He let a bag drop to the ground in front of him. He pulled out a grimoire, a knife and something that looked like parchmennt similiar to the map we used last time.

He flipped it open to a certain page then set the parchment in between us. He pressed his cool palm to my forehead, it felt nice.

"You're burning up," he muttered. "I'll do this quick spell and then you can sleep, okay?"

I gave a nod. He took my hand and sliced my hand open. I gasped out as the air made my hand sting. He muttered a spell and I was free of the pain. He let my hand hover over the paper gathering a small puddle.

"_Ostende te abscondere in qua sanguis_," he whispered his eyes turning grey. The blood on the parchment simmered and bubbled. A silver vapor string finally seperated itself from my blood. It contracted and relaxed like if it were a pulse. Eventually it stopped. He studied it carefully his eyes turning back to blue, intense.

"Elliott?"A small vile flew out of his bag and trapped the vapor. He then reached into his bag to find a cork. He carefully covered the file and set it back in his bag. He then bandaged me up my hand.

"I'm going to make you a remedy to feel better, okay?" he said shouldering his bag. He got up and picked me up in his arms just as the parchment with my blood disappeared in a puff of smoke. He took me up to my room setting me down on my undone bed. He hurried out and returned with a cold rag placing it on my forehead. He even opened the window.

He went to work on what ever he was doing at my desk. I tried to stay awake to watch him but I dozed off and I was fast asleep in no time. I don't know how long I slept but then I remembered hearing Elliott's voice in my dreams.

"Stevie," he said softly taking my hand in his. "Wake up, sweetheart."

I opened my eyes to see Elliott sitting on my bed. Past him I saw the sun going down and it was getting dark. A green guacamole goop was plastered on my chest over my heart. Then I realized I didn't feel like I was burning up any more and my head wasn't pounding.

"I feel better," I said. "Did you cure me?"

Elliott's smile faded. "Uh, no I just temporarily ceased the symptoms. Anna came how early. She was sick too."

"The doppelganger bond."

He nodded. "But she's fine now. Once you were stabalized, she was too." He started to clean off the muck from my chest. I sat up and he handed me a cup of what looked like water. I took a large sip and spit right back out.

"That was gross!" I said.

"Drink it, it's a lot stronger then asprin," he told me. I shut my eyes and took a large sip of the liquid. After I swallowed it, I shook my head furiously as if trying to swat away a fly from my face. He slipped a couple strands of my hair behind my ear. "Listen Steves, I studied what came out of your blood, it's an ancient illness in mythology, extremely rare. My remedies only delay the affects. I'm trying to find a cure."

"Elliott, I have to get better," I said. "The Five will be here in a few weeks. Anna's sick because of me."

"Hey, clam down," he said holding my face in his hands. "I have Nate helping me with cures. You'll be just fine, okay? I'll make sure of it." He made me gaze into his eyes so I knew he was serious. I nodded and he kissed my lips without fear. I kissed him back. He was such a good boyfriend when he wanted to be.


	38. Jerk Boy & Sarcastic Girl

Elliott brewed me up that goopy guacamole that wasn't guacamole and water that looked like water that wasn't water. It kept me at minor headaches and no fevers while Anna only suffered from the sniffles. I almost forgot Elliott's birthday. He didn't want anything or celebrate it in anyway so I accepted. Well, except that Nate let me sneak in to his room and wake him up while he brought him breakfast in bed.

I opened the door to his room and pressed my fingers to my lips to signal him to be quiet. Nate nodded. I tiptoed in. Elliott was passed out on his bed his chest rising and falling to a steady beat. I bit my lip trying not to laugh at how mad he was going to react when he woke up.

I climbed on and tapped his cheek a little. Nothing. I flicked him in the face. Again nothing. Annoyed, I got up and started jumping on his bed.

"Wake up, wake up!" I sang out. Elliott jerked awake taking in a fresh breath of air. He looked at me confused.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked surprised and amused. He grabbed my hand and yanked me down. I laughed and fell on his bed. "You're such a psycho."

"Someone once told me you know all the psychos in this town," I teased. "Happy birthday." Nate came in with a breakfast tray and set it on the foot of his bed.

"I'm heading out to work," Nate said. "You taking the day off?"

"Yeah, I called in earlier this morning," Elliott said. Nate bid him a good day and left.

I grinned.

"What's that smile for?"

"What smile?"

He pulled me forward onto his lap. "This one." He kissed me and I kissed him back. We heard Nate shut the door down stairs. He pulled away. "I told you not to get me anything, Steves."

"I didn't get you anything," I protested. "Besides that breakfast over there looks great, Nate's a fantastic chef, better than you anyway."

He chuckled. It flew forward in between us the pancakes were decorated just like how my mom does every year for my birthday; blue jelly beans for eyes, a white frosting smile, apples for ears and chocolate chip hair. After he was done, he pulled me forward again.

"Thank you," he said resting his forehead on mine. I traced my fingers near his lips. "You're the best."

"And don't you forget it."

"Have you noticed it's been well over a year since we met?"

"Damn, time sure does fly," I said wrapping my hands around his neck. It hasn't even felt like a year. So much has happened since then. It felt like I knew Elliott for a whole life time then just a year. And in little time, I had truly loved him as I'm sure he loved me.

"We're not the same as we were a year ago," he said his arms around my hips.

"I wouldn't say that," I laughed. "You're still a jerk on most days."

"But I'm your jerk, babe, there's a difference."

"Naturally."

We laughed.

"And you're still sarcastic and stubbern," he noted. "You were so cute then too."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked raising him an eye brow to dare him to say anything else.

"You never lost your cuteness-"

"Nice save," I laughed and we kissed. I let him get ready so we could go out to the park for a while in Greenwood. He put on shorts and a deep green t-shirt with a cap shielding his eyes. I snuck up from behind and wrapped my arms around him.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward so I could face him again. "See you're still cute. Come on, let's go." He pulled me out of the room and we tumbled down the stairs and out of his house.

We sank our feet in the small pond feeling the cool dirt on the bottom then laying around watching the clouds go by and finally I suggested we climb this big green leafy tree with some of the biggest, thickest branches.

"You're really good at this," Elliott noted two branches lower then me.

"I took competitive gymnastics for a good seven years," I told him. I reached for a branch over my head and pulled myself up swiftly. I waited for him to join me. He sat on the branch beside me.

"Really? I didn't know that."

"You sound so surprised," I said. "You did notice I'm not as sophisticated as Anna?"

He chuckled. "Good point." I pulled out my phone from my pocket. I started taking pictures down below at the park.

"Picture?" I asked with a grin.

"Um, no."

"Oh, come on, we don't have a picture together, not one."

"You see me every day, Steves," he laughed. "I look out my window into your room."

"What can I say, I can't get enough of you."

"No, Steves, don't be dumb."

"What are we going to show our kids!"

"Kids?" he asked completely taken aback with a smile. "You want to have kids with me?" His voice was careful and gentle as if he was trying to wrap the idea around his head. I know I just said it to get him to take a picture but I wasn't going to lie, I did wonder where my relationship with Elliott would end up. At this point, I couldn't see Elliott not in my life. I wanted this to work.

"Well, yeah," I said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "In a few years from now." Oh you know if we surivie the Five aand lead relatively nrmal lives.

"Alright, let's take the stupid picture."

I girnned, point one for me. I scooted over toward him as he took off his cap. I held out my phone in front of me and he leaned in to me. I got a good whiff of him which consisted of sweat and toothpaste. "Ready? One, two, three." I clicked the button.

"Wait, I think I blinked. Take another just in case," he said just as it clicked. I kept it right where it was.

"One, two-"

Just as I clicked the button and said three, his lips found mine and my phone slipped out of my fingers. We both pulled away. Elliott tried catching it but it fell down to the ground.

"_Rediisset_!" he shouted. The next second my phone soared back to me and onto my lap. I sighed relieved. "Let's get down before one of us ends up on the ground."

"Okay," I said. He went down first and I checked my phone to see if it was still in one piece. My screen was still lit with the pictures. The kissing picture turned out perfect, a wonderful surprise. I saw the amusement in his face and the pleasant surprise expression in mine. I checked the other picture. To my surprise, the picture looked just fine. His blue eyes were open, not closed. We looked happy and that's what mattered.

Who knows how long this would last because we had only thirteen days left until the Five were coming. Who knows if we would even have kids who could see these pictures.


	39. The Day Before Tomorrow

Elliott and Nate were started to run out of supplies to make me the remedies to hold off the symptoms. I had to take it smaller quantites and I could feel the head aches coming back. Then the body aches with the fever. Down the hall, Anna was facing nasal congestion, a cough and chills. My mom and dad were freaking out, they didn't know what to do.

I somehow managed to convince them that I didn't need to go to a doctor. I think Sam had much to do with that with her constant visits. Beisides this, we only had two days left before the Five came after us. It threw off our formation a bit and it was reduced down to four defenders: Sam, Nora, Gavin and Elliott. Thalia and Nate would be the last line of defense.

"I feel so useless," I said as Gavin and Thalia sat on either side of my bed. Thalia pressed a wet towel to my forehead.

"We have everything planned out, don't worry," Gavin said taking my hand. "If worse comes to worse Nate is instructed to move you guys."

"No," I moaned quietly. "I wanna stay and fight."

"Stevie-"

"I don't want to sit back and watch you get hurt and I don't want to live if anything happens to any of you," I said. My breathing became ragged and heavy. I closed my eyes to rest. There was a knock on my wall.

"How's she doing?" I heard Elliott ask.

I opened my eyes at the sound of his voice. He looked a little sad, they all did. There was no hope in their eyes and it just made me want to curl up and cry. They were giving up, theyy weren't putting up a real fight. I hated this feeling but I didn't have the strength to talk them into anything, it was over for them. I shut my eyes once more.

"You do recognize this disease, don't you?" I heard Gavin say.

"It's a deteriorating curse, Creed, I know," Elliott said quietly. "I've done all I could with my herbs and there's no known spells that could help treat it. She can only get better if the one who infected her, cures her."

"What can we do?" Thalia asked sadly.

"We have so little time, there's not much we can do."

I was in and out of it for the next couple hours. Nora and Sam came to visit me what seemed to be the next day, the day before the Five arrived. I had just woken up so I had some strength. I sat up just as Nora brought in a pouch of the green guacamole stuff and a water bottle of what I suspected was the gross water.

"Elliott said to drink a fourth now, another fourth at night along with your guac and the other half tomorow when ever you feel you need it," Sam instructed. "That's as much as he could scrape together."

"How are you holing up?" Nora asked.

"I'm holding," I said measuring the medication into a glass near my bed. I drank it in one gulp and made a face after that made Nora chuckle. "I will never get over how gross this is."

"How long does it take for it to help?" Sam asked.

"About fifteen minutes," I sighed. "How's Anna doing?"

"She's seen better days, but she's a fighter," Sam told me. We chatted for a while before they had to leave. They were probably preparing for what ever was going down. Once I mustered all the strength, I walked down the hall to Anna's room. She was propped up on her bed reading a book, she looked far better then me.

"Hey, you shouldn't have come, you're weak," Anna said setting down her book wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"Shut up." I hated being told I was weak.

"Sorry."

"Are you okay?" I asked her. She made room for me to lay down beside her. I felt relieved and lay down on her fluffy pillows.

"Yeah, for now," she said. "This sucks! We can't do anything to help the others. I don't want it to end like this."

"Seriously, Anna, shut up!" I snapped irritated. "It's not going to end! We'll figure something out." The more I annoyed I got with her the more my head pounded. I held my breath and closed my eyes. I gave it a few seconds before it died away. "We'll be okay, I'm not sure how but we will."

"If you say so," Anna sighed. We didn't say anything more and we both fell asleep once more. It wasn't for a few more hours until I awoke again but in my room. My head was pounding once more and I felt drained, no energy.

I shifted to see my window. It was dark now and I knew there wasn't much time left. Who knows when the Five would arrive. I saw my window open and Elliott slid in. He left it open and hurried over to shut my bedroom door.

"Elliott," I muttered.

"I'm here, sweetheart," he said taking a seat on my bed. "I'm here to give you a play by play of what's going down tomorow. Drink the water." He helped me sit up and handed me a cup of the clear liquid. I held my breath and drank. Elliott waited until I was better before telling me about the game plan.

"We're moving you and Anna to the abandoned house tomorow moring, Gavin thinks they'll appear something about midday or possibly toward the night," he said smoothing down my crazy bed hair.

I didn't say anything right away. He must have really pushed the others to form a plan. "I love you for staying and fighting," I told him as we stared at each other. "You're brave, that's something I like about you." He smiled still patting down my knotted hair.

"This isn't your twisted way of saying goodbye to me is it?" he asked eyeing me with suspision and tilting his head to one side.

"No," I said. "Knowing I have no chance in you letting me fight tomorow-"

"No way in hell."

"I'm wishing you good luck, no matter what happens."

He leaned in to kiss me. I smiled. "I love when you anticipate me. I see your eyes sparkle, your mouth twitches into a knowing smile. That's how I know you love me back."

"Well, you aren't wrong," I said still smiling I leaned in and we kissed. His cool lips told me everything he struggled to say and his hands pressed down into the matress. He pulled away some time after.

"Stevie?"

"Yeah?"

"I really do love you," he told me.

"I know."

"Rest. And remember to use the remedies."

I nodded. "What ever you say, Ames." He smiled and kissed me once more before leaving. He slipped out of my room leaving my window open. I smeared the green goop over my heart like I have been for the last few days. I shut the light and laid down.


	40. Power of My Power

I had trouble falling asleep. I tried to avoid tossing and turning since I had Elliott's remedy on my chest. I wondered if I took the rest of the nasty tasting water before the fight I could be able to help. Or if all of us would be enough to finish them off. But somehow I knew I was kidding myself. Then I wondered if they'd finish us off one by one or all together.

I shut my eyes trying to block out those negative thoughts. I sighed heavily. Tomorow was going to be a long day.

The next day I awoke feeling like the remedies were loosing their touch. I drank the rest of the gross water. I figured it would keep me well for a few hours. I got out of bed to see it was eight in the morning. Heat radiated into my room, regardless.

I glanced out to see the sun heading toward the middle of the sky. Everything was green like the trees up in the skies and the grass on the ground. I heard birds chirping and cars rushing by. It was the perfect summer day. I shook my head at how ironic this all was.

I changed into shorts and a faded yellow t-shirt. I brushed my hair just as there was a knock on the door. Anna came in dressed and not looking as sick. We had to get out of this house soon. She sat on my bed. We must have thought the same thing because she wore shorts, a faded pink t-shirt and her hair was straight. The only difference was the color of eyes and shirts.

"You ready?" she asked quietly.

"Just about," I said slipping into my sneakers. We trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Well, you girls look much better," Dad said peering down at us from his newspaper. "And woke up quite early."

"It's Saturday, dad," Anna said sounding like her old self. "We have things to do, people to see."

"Oh?" Mom asked from the stove. "For example?"

"I'm heading out with Nora and Sam for a while."

"And I'll be with Elliott," I said. "See you later." Anna walked out before our parents could question anything else. I followed shutting the door on my way out. I spotted Sma, Nate and Elliott out in front of her house under the shade of a tree.

We walked over to them. Sam was in shorts and a tank top with her hair up in a ponytail. Elliott was in shorts and a guy's tank top. They looked ready for a day at the park more then fighting with the Five some time today. A car came to a stop with Nora driving and Thalia and Gavin in the passenger seats.

We all headed on over cutting across the field. I heard Thalia and Gavin arguing. I couldn't exactly hear them but I could possibly guess about what they were arguing about and be right.

"Hey, look at that," Sam said pointing over to the abandoned house. Five people were standing outside just waiting for us to arrive. My heart began to raace just as I imagined the others were feeling the same. Then everything was so quick. There was a rip from above and in a fraction of a second Jaime attacked. Gavin reacted as well then Nora, Elliott and Sam followed suit. I rushed forward but Nate grabbed my arm. Wood, earth, fire, metal and water were flying every where.

Nate held me back "No," he said.

"Nate, Stevie look out!" Thalia shouted already engadged with a fight with the only female member of the Five. Nate stopped an enourmous fire ball.

"Anna, Stevie, go!" Nate shouted. I grabbed Anna's arm and made a run for it. I dodged every blow that wasn't neccesarily meant for us. I saw one of the Five coming. I thrust Anna forward so she could run. I managed to see her make it to the wrecked house.

The Five member tackled me to the ground. We rolled in the grass until he was above me holding me down. I found myself staring into a pair of red eyes. He was of average build and a tatto of black flames snaked up his left arm. Fire element.

"Mmm, the famous doppelganger sisters," he said amused. "And which may you be? Terribly sorry for the horrid disease, my uncle can be a slight grouch."

"Watch yourself, light weight!" Jaime tackled him off me and they soon were in a battle. I got to my feet and continued to run. I got into the abandoned house where Anna was on the ground resting.

"Come on, we have to get to lower ground," I said helping her out. I heard a loud bang which made me want to run outside to join my friends. But I knew I couldn't, I could already feel myself growing weak and my head was pounding. I wouldn't be of use to them. We hurried down to the basement.

Anna sunk down and I heard her shivering and coughing. I bent down beside her and grabbed her hands.

"Stay with me Anna," I said. I heard a loud thud. The door up stairs burst open with the guy who tackled me earlier.

"Heads up," he called. Thalia tumbled down the stairs. I gasped and rushed over and caught her. She was out cold but still alive. My head pounded and I could barely see in front of me for a few seconds.

"Thalia, wake up," I pleaded with her.

Anna behind me coughed and sniffed loudly. I crawled back over to my sister and grabbed her hands.

"Power of my power let it be yours," I said tears running down my cheeks. Her eyes flew open some color returning to her pale face.

"What are you doing?" she asked surprised.

"We're sharing energy. Help me, will you?"

"Power of my power let it be yours," she and I chanted and I could feel some energy flow through me. "It's working!" The door opened and one more bodies tumbled down the stairs, Gavin and Sam. She had some bruises but that was about it as far as I could tell. I felt horrible that she got into this with everyone else. There was a horrible slash on Gavin's chest just like how Thalia told me. Anna let go and hurried over to check on them. I rushed forwad and I could feel the horrible symptoms all over again.

I mopped up his blood. I reached for Anna so only our fingers touched.

"Power of my power let it be yours," she and I said. I saw Gavin's chest close up. I felt drained and we fell onto the ground. I could feel my insides burn and cringe as the disease sucked more out of me and with the use of my powers it killed me even more. I gasped for breath. The next body thrown down was Nate.

He had a few bad burns on him. I reached for his leg and reached for Anna one more time. I grabbed his leg and I said the familiar chant.

"Power of my powe let it be yours." His burns faded into minor wounds. More was being sucked out of us. I heard Anna ragged breath, our fingers still connected I tried sending some energy her way. Next was Jaime and he looked fine but I couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. A few minutes later Elliott and Nora were thrown down. The Five assembly was at the top of the stairs.


	41. The Bargin

My vision was blurred so I could barely see them, all I saw were figures. I shut my eyes and opened them and my vision cleared just a bit.

"Those two only have a little left," said a female's voice in a thick British accent as her other assembly member. Her eyes were a fierce bwon color like mud. I assumed her to be the earth element. I found it strange she have a British accent when Thalia said they were from Spain but it only distracted me for a fraction of a second.

I pushed myself off the ground and held Anna's hand. She was shaking violently and her nose was running like transperant blood. She opened her eyes.

"Titan if you will do the honors," said the oldest of the Five member.

Then I heard it in my head, Anna was pleading with them. She was saying it and I was the only one who could hear her. The red eyed member snapped his fingers and a fire appeared on his palm like a match. He threw it down the stairs to where my friends lay. Anna's eyes widened.

_No!_ She screamed in my head.

_Stop!_ "Stop!" Together.

And it did. The fire stopped in midair and nobody moved. The whole day stopped except for me, I was able to move. Anna lay beside me with her eyes closed. Her chest wasn't moving, it was frozen in time.

"Brava, doppelganger, you truly are an astonishing creature to witness and your sister of course," said one of the Five members who had yet to speak. He looked to be about in his thirties. He wore a crisp white shirt and dress pants like he had just gotten out of work. His eyes were a brilliant platnum like the a silver medal, metal element. "One in a million, a true anomely." He came down the stairs.

I sank back onto the ground exhausted. I was gonna get killed and there wasn't anything I could do about it. But I couldn't just lay here and die. I had to do something, anything.

"I want to make a deal," I muttered looking up at him my breath ragged. He stopped dead in his tracks. He looked up at his assembly then down at me.

"A deal?" he asked more amused then angry. He continued to walked down the stairs and blew out the fire ball in mid air. I closed my eyes trying to hide my hope. "What kind of deal can you possibly offer? You all surpassed the limit of assembly members for that you shall die."

"What if we made smaller assemblies?" I asked closing my eyes my head pounding. I heard him walk down the stairs. I opened my eyes just to see him sit on the lower step. "That one isn't even part of our assembly." I nodded over to Jaime's body.

"Yes, but he choose to be," he replied. "Your assembly consists of nine and we are five. See the problem? You all are a danger could produce a mutiny." The earth shook under us causing the earth to slice open and a metal trident appeared in his hand.

"Then we'll make it five."

He poised it over my throat almost as if to debate to kill me or not. I didn't flinch. "I think not, we are elemntal mythical creatures and if others rise above our sacred number the world becomes unbalanced which you are unaware of," he said. I was burning up, I could barely stay awake. I just wanted to sleep.

"Four?"

I felt him press the trident further into my neck. "Too close to five, my dear."

"Three?"

The trident eased up on my skin. "Three sounds reasonable." He held it back in place all three of its pointers up and out of the way.

"Why are you bargaining? You were dead set on killing us all," I said. I pushed myself off the ground and leaned on the cool wall behind me.

"Much magical blood has been spilled already," he said. "I am always quite a fool when it involves familes, brothers and sisters. Relationships such as the one you all formed. It is beautiful to have others that care for you and they do the same in return. Ironically, it is beneficial I tare this apart."

"Why?"

"I'd rather tare it apart then through other means," he said looking up at his assembly members. "Now, I must give you a set of rules to follow before I unfreeze the time. In exchange, my assembly will leave yours in peace and your health will be restored."

I breathed in heavily awaiting his rules. He stood up once more and moved back up the stairs his trident making a thud along the way. When he got to the top he turned to look at me.

"One, no siblings may be in the same assembly, I will permit a union twice a year no more, no less which may not be under any solstice," he began. "No communication what so ever, we will know if you have. Two, the assemblies must require a distance, too much power in one area is dangerous which I am sure you agree."

"Done," I said even though I didn't like the sound of this. How was I going to break this to Anna and Nate and Elliott? They only had eachother and I was about to tare them. Elliott would never forgive me for this. How would I tell my parents I was to leave them because of who I was?

"I will give you forty eight hours to make a decision and leave to your new homes," he said.

"What-"

"Forty eight hours, Miss Kendall. I hope we do not meet again. The consequences next time will not be something far out of my control," he said. "Have a good day." He rose his trident and slammed it on the wooden floor with a bright flash and I couldn't see.

I opened my eyes and my head was no longer pounding and I wasn't buring up any more. The Five were gone and I could feel time back in motion. Everything was just as it was except no Five was standing up at the top of the stairs. No one had any injuries, they just lay on the ground. It was like nothing ever happened.

I heard Gavin grunt beside Thalia. I crawled over to see if he was okay. On his chest was a long slanted scar where Anna and I had magically sown him back together. His eyes fluttered open gazing around.

"What happened?" he mumbled.

"I did something bad," I said tears sliding down my cheeks. He sat up looking extremely worried. I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks. "I did something really bad." He put his arm around me trying to comfort me.

"It's okay, Steves," he whispered. "It's over."

That just made me cry even harder.

I told him what happened and he looked grim. He said we'd figure things out and gave my hand a squeeze. We woke up the others who just seemed as confused as Gavin when they first woke up. They all sat up looking at me for answers.

"So that's it?" Nora asked. "We won? What in hell did you say to them?"

"We haven't won anything," Gavin told her. "That was just a terrible warning. They gave a choice to split up the assembly or be killed. Three per assembly."

"Good luck kiddies," Jaime said standing and stretching as if he just woke up from a long nap.

"Not so fast," I snapped at him. "You're included in this."

"I'm not even a part of your stupid assembly."

"You stayed. I told you to stay away from me, creep!" I tried not to let any more tears spill over.

"They also gave a set of rules to follow," Gavin said. "Distance and sibling can't be in the same assembly and can only see each other twice a year. We have two days to come up with our plans and split."

"What!" Nate exclaimed. He and Elliott exchanged nervous glances. I bit my lip trying not to let more tears spill.

"Well this is just great!" Nora said furiously. "We can't just leave our home because they want us to!"

"We can and we will," Gavin said. "It was either death or this whole place would be on fire with us in it. Stevie, did the right thing." I felt horrible that he was the one giving the others the bad news and taking the fault but I knew I wouldn't be able to manage it. I diverted my eyes just looking at my shoes. I knew everyone would be looking.

"Guys, calm down," Sam said quietly. "We'll come up with something." We sat there in silence for a long time. Nora how ever stormed out of the place, Sam trailed after her not too long after. There was a rip and Jaime was gone as well.

Elliott came over to me and offered me his hand. I took it and he pulled me up to my feet. He pulled me into a tight hug holding me close and kissing the top of my head. I shut my eyes. What had I done? No one said a word the whole day. I knew they were all mad and much more upset with my bargin. I almost wished the Five had the chance to kill us because I felt dead already.


	42. Some Nights

Gavin and Elliott were already talking about the new assemblies. I went up to the main level of the house and stepped out into the summer day. Everything looked just as it was. There was no trace of a battle. The sun gleamed up above sending sunshine on my skin. I felt someone's hand on my shoulder.

"I know not everyone is saying it but thank you," Thalia said coming beside me. "You saved our lives and that's what matters most."

"I feel I betrayed everyone," I muttered looking over to my house. It would no longer be my house any more, not in two days.

"They'll thank you in the long run even Jaime and Nora," she said.

"Is that a vision?" I asked trying not to be rude. She was only trying to make me feel better.

"Yeah," she admitted. I smiled in gratitude. We walked back to my house and we saw the rest of the girls out front under the shade of the tree. They tried to be cheerful but I knew that was hard. I'm prety sure they were talking about me behind my back. I sat in front of Sam who gave me a weak smile.

"You do realize mom will never let me leave this place?" Anna asked raising an eye brow. "You're going to have to leave. Can I have your room?"

I chuckled at her. Trust Anna to try and lighten the mood.

"It's all yours," I said. "Imagine how mom and dad are going to react when they learn I'm running off with Elliott." We laughed. Even our laughter didn't seem right. It was all too depressing. I lay down on the grass with my hands under my head staring up at the blue sky. We stayed there talking until dusk. No one was mad any more, we just wanted to spend a good time together.

"Where are the guys?" Sam asked a loud.

"I'll text Gavin," Thalia said. A few text messages later she spoke aagin. "They're still at the abandoned house, t-they want to talk to us." And we did. We squeezed in between my house and Elliott's. I could see a fire out front. The guys were sitting around it like a bonfire. I had a horrible feeling they had decided the assemblies already without us.

Elliott reached out to me. I took his hand and pulled me to sit me on his lap. He looked sad but he looked happy to see me. He rested his chin on my shoulder.

"We came up with the new assemblies," Nate said standing. "It'll be best for everyone with these new groups."

"The one staying here in Old Passage is Thalia, Anna and I," Gavin announced. Thalia looked relieved. Anna looked over at me sadly. A tear trickled down her cheek but that was all. Elliott held me tighter in comfort. I bit my lip to prevent myself from objecting.

"The second assembly will be Stevie, Sam and I," Elliott said his voice in my ear. "We'll be moving out to Oregon." I winced, that was across the country I couldn't imagine living out there from now on.

"Last group is Jaime, Nora and I in Louisinana," Nate said. No one said anything. We'd only be seeing eachother twice a year and that was it. I wouldn't wake up to Anna bouncing in my room, or hear Gavin's bad jokes, or enjoy Thalia's company not even Nora's snippy remarks. Elliott was gazing into the fire. Tomorow would be our full day together before we divided.

I had no idea what I was going to tell my parents. Or maybe I just didn't return home and let Anna tell them I was eloping or running away to protect my friends, which ever worked I guess. We sat in more silence until the fire died away. Gavin and Thalia left first then Sam, Nora and Anna followed by Nate. It was just Jaime, Elliott and I infront of the ashes.

"Thank you for coming today," I said to Jaime. Elliot grabbed my hand to prevent me from going forward. I slipped through his grip. "I don't forgive you for cheating on me but I appreciate you coming to help."

"You're welcome," he said with a shrug.

"Come on, let's go," Elliott said staring him down. He reached out to me and I took his hand. I let him lead me into the darkness toward our houses. I sighed heavily. Elliott turned to look at me and we stopped under our windows.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Elliott asked holding my face in his hands. "Why do you look so miserable?"

"Why do you think?" I asked. "I'm taring us all apart. You from Nate, Sam and Nora, me and Anna. I'm taring you all away from your home, here."

"Listen to me and listen good," he said. He raised my chin and our eyes met. "You made a decision to keep us alive, at a cost but very much alive. Nate and the others will come around. Our friendship with the others isn't going to wither away, you have to trust me on this. And you gotta trust me when I tell you, you did the right thing. I'll see you tomorow morning, okay?"

I nodded. He kissed my lips. I walked away to the front and went inside my cool house. The air conditioning was cool enough to give me chills. I went up the stairs. I hurried over to Anna's room to see what she was doing. She sat on her bed just looking at her room. I found it funny since she wasn't the one leaving. I walked in.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "Your room stays where it is, did you forget?"

"I know," she said I took a seat beside her. She flung her arms around me. "But I want to give you something so you'll remember me."

"Like I'm going to forget you," I said rolling my eyes.

"Fine so you won't miss me as much," she corrected. She glanced around her closet to find something to give me. "Aha!" She got to her knees and throwing shoe boxes out of the way. She yanked out a sweater from my high school.

"Hey, that's mine!" I said. "I thought I lost it."

She shrugged. "I thought you should have it back before you leave."

"I don't know if I should thank you or scold you" I said laughing. She laughed too. I would miss nights like this, when there wasn't any tension. When we were sisters and nothing more. I stayed in her room for the rest of the night just talking. As if nothing had happened this morning, like the Five didn't exist. Boys, school, summer, friends. Now this was summer. Some nights that I won't be able to get back.


	43. Ready to Go

I must have lost track of time because I fell asleep right on her floor in my clothes. The only reason I woke up was because the next day the sun was shinning right in my eyes. I sat up and scrambled out of her room. I took a quick shower and slipped into a fresh pair of shorts and a blue and white striped shirt. I brushed my hair and teeth. I entered my room and threw my sweatshirt on my bed.

"Stevie!" my mom called. "Sam's here to see you!"

I hurried down the stairs and sprinted down the hall. I couldn't help but feel a little worried about Sam's visit. She was never here when my parents were. I found her sitting on the island having pancakes.

"Hey, Sam," I said.

"Sam told us the fantastic news!" Mom said beaming.

"Uh, what news?" I asked nervously but giving my parents one of my best smiles.

"Sam told us about you and Elliott got accept to a university in Oregon," Dad said coming into the kitchen. "Good for you."

"And I already told them my parents sent me off to boarding school," Sam chimed in with a smile. She was good. These were the perks of having a vila for a friend.

"Anna will be so disappointed."

"Hey, did you hear?" Sam asked talking to me more then my parents. "Nate's having a barbecue today to, uh, say goodbye." She looked excited. Sam hopped off the stool. "Thanks for the breakfast Mrs. Kendall but I gotta go pack. See you, Stevie." She hurried out of the kitchen before we could say anything.

"Why didn't you tell us you applied to Oregon?" Dad asked.

"Must hace slipped my mind," I lied. I threw panckaes onto my plate and drowned them with syrup. I dug in thinking about I wouldn't be able to have my mom's cooking in a long time.

"I'm going next door to Elliott's," I said hoping off the stool. I hurried out the back door toward's Elliott's where I saw Nate setting up a table loaded with buns, meats and bowls of who knows what else.

"Whoa, this looks great," I said. "Need some help?"

"No, I'm alright," he said. "I'm going to miss you and Elliott."

I looked away ashamed. He steered us right into the conversation I was most desperate to avoid. I knew he wasn't angry but I couldn't help but blame myself. I didn't want to talk about yesterday but I knew he wanted to.

"I'm sorry I made such a terrible choice," I apologized.

"Terrible choice?" he asked. "You kept us alive. You think that was a bad choice?"

"What's a bad choice?" I heard someone come behind me. A pair of arms wrapped around me and pulled me close to a warm body. I giggled as he buried his face in my neck. He held on tighterand I tried wiggling free. He let me go but grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him.

"I have some good news and some not so great news," he said. "Which do you want to hear first?"

"The not so great news," I said.

"Well, we leave tonight."

"And the good?"

"I found an apartment in Oregon, we just gotta move in tomorrow when we arrive."

Sam and Anna arrived after me. Then Thalia, Nora and Gavin. Jaime didn't appear and I didn't expect him to. He'd show up when it was his time to leave.

Owerall, it was fun just hanging out, talking and eating until dark. Sam left early to pack with Nora and Anna following. I didn't want to say goodbye to Gavin and Thalia, they were the closest friends I had here at Old Passage. I didn't want to leave them.

"We should get packing too," Elliott said. I rose to my feet. I dreaded good byes much more knowing I wasn't going to be able to see them. It made things that much harder. Thalia came forward and hugged me tight in a bone crushing hug.

"Thalia, let go," I choked out. She let go. She was pretty strong for just an Oracle. I hugged her this time laughing.

"I'm going to miss you so much," she muttered.

"I'm going to miss you more," I said. "But I'll see you sometime soon. Take care of my husband."

We let go and she grinned. "Gladly." I stepped aside so Elliott could say his goodbyes with her. I made my way to Gavin. He had a small smile and I couldn't help but smile back to my oldest friend.

"Náá'ahidiiltsééh," he said solemly. I gave a shaky laugh.

"Cheroke?" I asked.

"Navajo," he corrected. "I had to practice it a few times to get it right." He opened his arms and I rushed into them. I couldn't help but smile at his dorkiness. I fit under them perfectly. I buried my face in his chest to make sure I didn't forget him or Thalia. He held me tight and I felt like I was letting go of my home. "Take care of Ames. We won't be able to help you handle him."

"Leave it all to me," I said looking up at him smiling. He smiled too and kissed my forehead. Thalia and Gavin left. Elliott slung his arm around my shoulders as we walked over to my house so I could pack the rest of my things.

"You know I could just do it for you with a little magic," he coaxed. "That's how I did it."

"How about you take my things to my car while I finish up?" I suggested. "And grab some of Sam's things."

"Fine," he said sounding a little disappointed. He left me at my front door and I headed into my house up to my room. My room was packed with boxes and everything else that was on my walls and desk. I saw my sweatshirt on my bed. I pulled it on over my head. I shut a few boxes ready to be shipped off into my car once more.

"Okay, hand me a few boxes," Elliott said from my window. I carried over two boxes and slid them through the window like a drive through. He flew back down to the ground. I sealed a few more boxes and waited for him by the window. In about a minute he had returned for more cargo.

In just a few minutes my room was empty. I gazed around. I had only been here a little over a year and Old Passage felt like home. I didn't want to start all over again. So much has happened it didn't even feel like a year. I met my friends and Elliott and I had grown closer to Anna in ways we weren't sure of yet.

"Ready to go?" Elliott said reappearing at my window. I turned to look at him. I gazed around my empty room one more time. I sighed heavily. With all me heart I wanted to say no but the decision was already made. I walked over to him and rested my elbows on the window sill.

He floated on pure air and he leaned into my window expectantly. Elliott kissed me deeply his hands near my elbows on the window sill. I kissed him back half heartedly and finally pulled away. He grabbed my hands.

"I know you're nervous to move again."

"Yeah, a little."

He chuckled looking down at the ground and back up to me. "I can go flick you from my room if you want."

"Hm, tempting," I said feeling the warmth of his hands. "I'm just glad you and Sam are coming along." He took my hands in his and kissed my fingers. "I'm ready to go now." He gave a nod and floated away to give me room to climb out.

I looked around at my room once more. I threw my leg over the window sill. Half of me was still in my room and the other half out. Mostly out.

* * *

Author's Note: Hi all! I hope you enjoyed this story of mine. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think!:) Feel free to read my other stories as well. Usually, I make sequels to stories but this one will stand alone.

Currently, I'm thinking about two stories. The first is called The Guardian. It's about a girl, her childhood friend and uncle waching over a very powerful kid who may be in danger. It will be placed under the Beautiful Creatures section so look for that in the near future (not too near because I haven't started typing lol).

The next story will be a coming of age story about a girl with a troubled past who moves into town and is instantly drawn to this ostrisized kid with an equally dark past. That will most liekly be in the Perks of Being a Wallflower catagory. So watch out for that as well.

Totally excited to continue writing but college takes up most of my time! Have a good night (or day) all!

Heights93


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